


Dantana Prompt Haven

by pleasanthell



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-23
Updated: 2013-12-01
Packaged: 2018-01-02 10:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 26,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasanthell/pseuds/pleasanthell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of Dantana prompts filled on Tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dani and Santana going to a glee reunion? or wedding?

“It’s like three a.m., I don’t want to wake up your parents,” Dani told Santana, who was just quietly driven them past the Lima city limits.

“I have a key,” Santana shrugged. “They won’t wake up.” Then she was quiet for a moment, “I hope they didn’t set the alarm.”

Dani rolled down her window and the car filled with a chilly whirl. “Let’s go to the mall.”

“It closes at ten,” Santana told her.

Dani scrunched up her nose, “Is there anything open? I’m kinda wired. I usually don’t get off of work for a few more hours.”

“Me either,” Santana agreed, “But the only things open are a diner by the high school and a grocery store in Lima Heights.”

“Ooh, Lima Heights,” Dani grinned lulling her head over to look at Santana, “Let’s go there. You keep talking about it. I want to see the mean streets that made you so hard.”

“Oh my god,” Santana rolled her eyes, never thinking that Dani would want to see Lima Heights.

Dani chuckled, “Isn’t that where your parents live?”

“They live in Lima Heights Adjacent,” Santana turned down the road toward the diner. “We’ll hit the diner then if you still feel like going to Lima Heights, I’ll find a shank so I can protect you.”

Dani reached over and took Santana’s hand, “My hero.”

Santana slipped her fingers between Dani’s. “Thanks for driving with me.”

“It was the most fun eight hours I’ve spent in the car on my way to Ohio,” Dani smirked. “Besides, I’m not a huge fan of flying.”

“As much fun as it would be watching Hummel and Elliot have to check fourteen bags full of platform shoes and glitter, I have some stuff that I need to drive back to New York with me,” Santana pulled to a stop at a stop light. “You know I wouldn’t have come to this stupid town, if it weren’t for you.”

“You couldn’t miss Pamela Lansbury’s first paying gig,” Dani smiled playfully.

Santana turned into the parking lot of the diner. There were only two other cars in the parking lot and the sign didn’t proclaim anything, but the word ‘Pancake’. Santana huffed, “It’s not really a gig. It’s McKinley High’s Bicentennial. We were probably the only ones that would take it.”

“A gig is a gig,” Dani stated. When Santana turned off the car, “I once played a gig at a retirement home right after they told the residents that they were shutting down the home. I got paid in powdered pistachio gelatin.”

Santana grinned at Dani, “If we are going to compare terrible payments, I have a closet full of Yeast-I-Stat to show you.”

“What are you going to do with those?” Dani asked, pulling on her boots.

Santana got out of her car, “I can’t tell you. It’ll spoil your Christmas presents.”

Dani laughed loudly as they walked to the door. She opened it for Santana to kissed her cheek as she walked by.

The older woman who looked exhausted told them to sit anywhere. All the tables and all the seats at the counter were open. There was another woman across the counter cleaning the grill that already seemed clean.

Santana lead the way to a booth next to the window overlooking the highway. Dani sat with her back against the windows and her legs extended across her side of the booth. Santana faced Dani and looked up when the waitress walked over. They both ordered the same things that they ate at their diner when Gunther needed them to stay through their break.

“So,” Santana spun her fork around on the table. “Are you nervous?”

“About the gig?” Dani asked. “I have been booed out of a retirement home. I think I can manage an uninterested group of high school teachers.”

“No, I mean my parents,” Santana answered as their coffee arrived.

Dani thanked the waitress and sat up. She grabbed the sugar, “I have tried to not think about that. I don’t get along so well with parents.”

“Well my parents are not your parents,” Santana assured her kindly. “My dad may be a little protective, but my parents are cool. You’ll be fine. Besides, we’re only here for two nights.”

They took their time eating, just enjoying the quiet and each other’s company. Dani left a nice tip for the waitress, knowing what it was like living on tips.

“Okay so we killed an hour,” Santana looked at the clock glowing with the time. “Do you want to go to my parents’ house or do you still want to go to the grocery store?”

“I’m still not tired,” Dani put on her seatbelt.

“To the grocery store,” Santana put her car in reverse and pulled out of her parking spot.

It wasn’t ten minutes later that Dani was pushing through the aisle of the store on the back of the shopping cart. Santana was sitting in the in the basket grabbing things she wanted as they sailed by.

“Junk food weekend?” Dani asked, pushing off again with her foot.

Santana at another handful of M&M’s from the bag she already opened not ten seconds after she grabbed it, “We deserve it.”

They went down every single aisle in the store and ended up with only about five items to buy. The bored cashier rang them up emotionlessly and didn’t even hesitate when he scanned an empty M&M’s bag.

Finally they pulled into Santana’s parents’ driveway. Santana grabbed a bag of cookies and her bag. She ran to the front door with Dani right behind her carrying her own bag and pillow.

“It got colder,” Dani dancing behind Santana wanting to get into the assumedly warm house.

Santana fumbled with the keys, “I know. Jesus, it’s freezing.” She finally unlocked the door and was relieved when the alarm didn’t go off.

Dani tiptoed behind Santana all the way up to her bedroom.

“Are you parents going to be cool with me in your room?” Dani asked, still a little nervous. She took in the bedroom and smiled when she saw that Santana had pretty much replicated her Lima bedroom, in New York.

Santana shrugged, “Brittany used to sleep in here all the time.”

“But your parents knew Brittany,” Dani tossed her pillow onto the bed. She was starting to get sleepy.

“Dani, it’s fine,” Santana smiled and fell onto the bed.

Dani crawled onto the bed and laid down next to Santana, “Fine.” Dani accepted a kiss from Santana and even returned one of her own.

Santana started getting frisky and pushed her hand up Dani’s shirt to cup Dani’s breast over her bra. Dani broke away, “Santana!” Dani hissed, “Your parents are in this house.”

“So?” Santana smirked, “You don’t mind when Kurt and Rachel are next door.”

Dani groaned softly when Santana moved her lips down to Dani’s neck. Santana grinned and knew that she had won.

Dani managed to muffle her moans enough that it didn’t wake anyone in the house. Dani had to put a pillow over Santana’s face because if anyone was going to wake her parents, it would have probably been her.

Dani was the first one awake. She panicked for a moment, not remembering where she was. Then she saw Santana curled up against her. She kissed the mess of hair on Santana’s head and smiled. Then she looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost noon.

“Santana,” Dani murmured, rubbing her girlfriend’s back. “It’s time to wake up.”

Santana smiled softly and burrowed farther into Dani. “Nope.”

“Yup,” Dani started to run her finger through Santana’s hair. “Our gig starts in three hours. We have to glam up.”

“I stays glam,” Santana muttered.

Dani chuckled and kissed Santana’s forehead. “That you do.”

After some more coaxing, Dani got Santana out of bed. They both got dressed enough to appear downstairs. Santana was surprised that both of her parents were present.

“My baby!” her mom called when she spotted her daughter walking into the living room. She stood from her place on the couch where she was doing a crossword puzzle next to Santana’s dad who was reading a book.

Maribel swept up her daughter in her arms and Santana smiled.

Santana’s dad was the first one to approach Dani. “You must be Dani.”

“Yes sir,” Dani smiled politely at him, hoping that he wouldn’t hate her right off of the bat.

He pulled her into a hug, “It’s so good to finally meet you.”

And just like that Dani’s anxiety quelled a little. She hugged Dr. Lopez back, then when he let go, she looked to Maribel.

Maribel smiled and hugged her, “We’ve heard so much about you Dani.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you too,” Dani answered, looking at Santana beaming over Maribel’s shoulder.

Maribel and her husband insisted on making the girls lunch while they got ready for their gig. Santana tried to call Rachel to ask what color blazers they were supposed to wear, but didn’t get an answer. She decided that they would take both colors and let Kurt dress them when they got to the school.

However, when they got to the school, Santana had already called Rachel two more times and didn’t get an answer. She was sure that she was just doing their pre-show rituals and didn’t have her phone on her.

But when they got to the small backstage area, they found it empty. Santana started talking to the man in charge while Dani got their stuff out of Santana’s car.

Dani had taken to tuning her guitar and not worrying about what Santana was doing, until Santana appeared in front of her, “I can’t get ahold or Rachel, Kurt, or Elliot.”

Dani looked up from her guitar and asked, “When are we supposed to go on?”

“Two minutes ago,” Santana stated.

Dani let out a smile. Santana was cute when she was panicked. “The show must go on. I’ll play a song while you find us a drummer.”

Santana knew a few places where she may be able to find a drummer around the building.

“Are you going to be okay?” Santana asked, tapping her phone nervously to her hand.

Dani stood up, her guitar in hand, “We can’t play any Pamela Lansbury songs because all the harmonies are for the five of us, but I have some songs ready to go and I can play some songs you know.” She kissed Santana, “We’ll be fine.”

Dani confidently walked onto the stage and pulled a stool up to a microphone. When Santana heard Dani tell the crowd that they rest of the band was on their way and she hoped they didn’t mind a few solo songs, she started making her way down the hallways of the school, looking for a drummer.

Luckily, Santana found a drummer lurking near the choir room (where a large gathering of musicians always seemed to be) and managed to talk her into playing with her and Dani.

When they got to the backstage area, Dani had just finished her song and the crowd clapped for her. Santana waited for the applause to die down before pulling the drummer onto the stage and finding a microphone.

Dani walked to the drummer and told her something that Santana couldn’t hear. Then Dani whispered the name of a song in Santana’s ear. Santana smiled and nodded.

There was something about singing with Dani that Santana absolutely loved. She always felt like it was sort of a competition, but the playful kind. They kept trying to hold notes longer than each other or put more power behind their voices. She knew that this little competition with Dani was making her a stronger singer. At Pamela Lansbury rehearsals, Dani would push her until she was hoarse the next day. Dani had been a solo act for her entire career so she had all the verses whereas Santana had had a few solos, but was usually pushed into the background. Dani was forcing Santana to catch up with her because Dani knew that Santana would be flooring audiences all over the world someday and she wanted Santana to be ready when her chance came.

Dani urged Santana into the final note of the song with a smile and a nod. That was all Santana needed to bring down the house.

All the uninterested high school teachers and alumni had become a rapt audience.

People started writing down song requests and sliding them onto the stage. Dani sang a solo, acoustic version of Rocket Man and then they performed a perfect girl-girl rendition of Summer Nights. Santana started singing one of the songs Dani had written recently before Dani could stop her. Dani reluctantly joined in and found that the crowd loved it. They took two more requests before they took a break for some announcements from the person in charge.

“You are incredible,” Dani told Santana earnestly as they loitered near the open bar.

Santana smiled, “So are you. They loved your song.”

Dani grinned, “You’re sneaky for starting that song while I was plugging in the keyboard.”

“Yeah, well,” Santana moved closer to Dani, “I learned it in Lima Heights.” She dipped her head down and gave Dani a peck on the lips.

“Talent coming through!” they heard a familiar voice yell through the crowd.

They both turned in time to see Rachel leading the frenzied charge onto the stage with Kurt dragging Elliot behind them. Santana took off running after them and Dani quickly followed.

“Berry. Berry. Berry,” Santana said as she got close to the trio that was quickly getting dressed backstage in their 80’s attire.

Rachel stopped with one arm in her neon blazer. Kurt had one leg in his skinny jeans and one leg in some parachute pants. Elliot just stood there in his regular clothes looking dazed.

“Chill out,” Santana put her hand on Rachel’s shoulders.

“You what?” Rachel asked.

Santana picked up Dani’s arm that had her watch on it, “You’re two hours late.”

“The flight was delayed,” Kurt sighed. “We blew our first gig?”

“Actually,” the man in charge walked up to them with an envelope in his hand. “That show was incredible. I was hoping that you all could stick around for the closing of the bicentennial tomorrow. These two young ladies are incredible by themselves. I can’t wait to see what you all can do together.” He handed Kurt an envelope. “Here’s what we owe you plus the tips that people insisted on giving. If you stay for tomorrow, we’ll put you up in the Lima Historia and pay you the same as we did today.”

“That would be amazing,” Kurt agreed for everyone.

“See you tomorrow at two,” the man nodded and walked away.

Kurt opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of money. It was mostly ones, but it was still a substantial stack. Kurt looked up at Santana, “What did you two sing?”

Santana shrugged, “A few requests. One of Dani’s songs.”

“You write songs?” Rachel asked her.

Dani nodded, “I try.”

“You would know that if you two weren’t always fighting at rehearsals about what we were going to wear, you’d know that,” Santana snarked. Then she plucked the money out of Kurt’s hand, halving it and then handing him back the rest. “Now if you’ll excuse me. We’re going to celebrate.”

“Yay,” Dani clapped and then allowed Santana to pull her out of the room, ready to celebrate a show well performed with her lady.

 


	2. Thanksgiving in New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving story where Quinn and Brittany decide to visit Rachel, Kurt, and Santana instead of head back to Lima. Dani is there but Santana hasn't spoken to Brittany for a couple months and Quinn hasn't seen Rachel since Finn died. Sam, Blaine, and other ND members and parentals may make a cameo appearance. Angsty, but a happy ending for all.

It didn’t seem right to go back to Lima with Finn not there. It didn’t make sense because only a few of them actually saw Finn over the holidays, but it just didn’t feel right. So Rachel offered to host a New Directions Thanksgiving in New York. It was an open invitation to anyone who wanted to come. The text was short and sweet. Rachel told them that they didn’t need to RSVP and they didn’t need to answer her text. They could just show up at their apartment.

Thanksgiving morning was a whirl of food and frenzy. However, as the dishes started to be done and the turkey continued to bake, the mood grew somber. Without their friend in their lives, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot to be thankful for.

Santana would look at Rachel and see how happy she was trying to be, not even veiling how sad she actually was. It made it even worse. She felt tears in her eyes and grabbed Dani who was walking by with a bottle of wine in her hand. She just pulled Dani into her arms and felt Dani fold her arms around her. Dani understood that this was a somber time for the trio, so she cancelled a gig and showed up as soon as she woke up.

Dani’s heard broke as Santana held onto her. She rubbed Santana’s back and tried to figure out what she could do that would make Santana feel better. When she came up with a whole lot of nothing, Dani just continued to hold Santana.

The door opened to the apartment and Blaine walked in with a bag over his shoulder. He dropped the bag by the door and scooped up Kurt in his arms without saying a word.

Rachel watched the two couples from the kitchen and felt worse than ever. She started to walk to her bedroom with Santana caught her arm. Santana pulled Rachel into a three-way hug. Rachel smiled despite how down she was feeling. Santana was her best friend and Dani had become a good friend. She appreciated them letting her in on their intimate moment.

Everyone moved to the living room to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. Occasionally, they could look out the window and see the balloons across the river.

Santana had put Dani’s arm around her and was resting her head on Dani’s shoulder. Kurt was sitting in the armchair and Blaine was sitting on the arm of it. Rachel was also leaning on Dani, her head in Dani’s lap.

When the scratching of metal on metal sounded, everyone looked to the doorway. Rachel could barely believe who she saw walking through the door. She immediately sat up and stood. Something deep down in Rachel had a strong need to be around Quinn and she was thankful her former rival showed up.

Rachel moved to Quinn before Quinn could get more than three feet from the door. Quinn didn’t need to say anything so she just locked her arms around Rachel when she smaller girl hugged her.

Behind Quinn was someone who shocked Santana. Brittany had a pie in her hand and was carefully stepping around Quinn and Rachel to get inside and close the door. Something about Brittany looked older. She looked tired, but something about her eyes seemed laser focused. Her hair was up and the sweatshirt she was wearing hung limply on her. But she still looked like Brittany.

Dani nudged Santana who didn’t need more than that to stand up and greet the girl who would always be her best friend. There was no hesitation when they met in the middle Brittany easily slide her arms around Santana’s waist like she had millions of times and Santana’s arms found their comfortable place around Brittany’s neck.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Rachel whispered over Quinn’s shoulder.

Blaine and Kurt got up to greet the girls. Dani felt uncomfortable just sitting in the living room alone, so she decided to make herself useful and go into the kitchen to stir the potatoes.

When Santana pulled away from Brittany and they shared a smile, Santana looked back at the couch. For a moment she was distraught because she didn’t see Dani, but then Brittany turned Santana around by her shoulders and pointed her at the kitchen.

“Is that Dani?” Brittany asked with an easy smile.

Santana nodded and started walking, pulling Brittany with her.

Brittany added, “She’s cute.”

Rachel wouldn’t let go of Quinn. She kept Quinn’s hand in hers or her arm around Quinn’s waist. She pulled Quinn to the couch while Kurt and Blaine followed. Everyone’s eyes stayed on the kitchen though where it looked like Santana was introducing Brittany and Dani.

“That has got to be awkward,” Kurt mentioned.

Rachel looked at Quinn, “Did Brittany say anything to you about Santana?”

Quinn shook her head, “The drive here was mostly quiet. She just picked me up this morning and we took turns driving and studying. She’s been really quiet.”

All the jaws on their side of the room dropped when Brittany swept Dani up in a hug. They could see Dani smiling over Santana’s shoulder. Santana watched carefully, but found there was really no reason to.

When the hug ended, Dani went back to stirring the potatoes and Santana pointed toward the bathroom. Brittany smiled and disappeared into the bathroom.

Santana slipped her arms around Dani from behind and rested her chin on Dani’s shoulder.

“Hmm,” Quinn looked back at the group, “Is this what adult Santana and Brittany look like?”

“I think they’re the most mature ones in this apartment,” Rachel rested the back of her head on Quinn’s shoulder. “We were all expecting drama.”

Kurt nodded and looked up at Blaine, “She’s right. We’re all adults now or we’re supposed to be. We should be able to handle complex emotional situations without fighting or having to burst into song.”

“But sometimes bursting into song helps,” Rachel protested.

Quinn was so glad to see Rachel smiled. She looked over her face and worried that her recent tragedies would have marked her with dark circles and a permanent frown. She watched Rachel smile and joke with Kurt and Blaine. She watched Rachel’s profile smile and saw her delicate hands gesture emphatically. Quinn smiled softly just studying Rachel. She had missed her so and was happy to just have this time to bask in her presence.

“I’m, uh, gonna head out,” Dani told Santana as she turned off the fire under the potatoes.

“What-why?” Santana asked tilting her head to the side. “Are you leaving because of Brittany?”

Dani shook her head, “Of course not.” Dani gestured to the group sitting around the couch. “You all lost your friend. I thought maybe you could all use a little time together.”

Santana took Dani’s hand that was in the air and held it between hers. “Would it make a difference if I said I wanted you here?”

Dani looked questioningly up at Santana, “You do?”

Santana nodded and took a step closer to Dani. “I need you here.” She dipped her head down and kissed Dani lightly on the lips.

“And not just because I am an awesome cook?” Dani grinned.

Santana laughed, “Not just because you’re an awesome cook.” She kissed Dani again and moved to the refrigerator to get out a bottle of Chardonnay. As she was closing the refrigerator, she looked over her shoulder. She saw some blue eyes peeking at her as Brittany was walking toward the couch. Santana wiggled her eyebrows and Brittany shot her a wink because no matter what, they could never not be best friends.

Dinner wasn’t a formal event. Everyone just ate when they got hungry and Kurt lit some candles on the coffee table.

Puck showed up as the sun was starting to go down. He was wearing a leather jacket and carrying a guitar case. Everyone hugged him and he and Dani bonded over guitars. Dani retrieved her guitar from Santana’s room and she and Puck played a few songs. Of course Rachel started singing along, then Quinn started singing. That got everyone into it. During the guitar solo, Dani and Puck tried to out-riff each other and ended up high-fiving.

Kurt and Blaine went on an alcohol run and soon there was no one left in the apartment that was sober. Quinn ended up in the corner of the couch with Rachel leaning across her lap. Rachel’s legs were draped over Puck who was sipping on a beer.

Santana was laying on the ground across the coffee table from the couch. Kurt and Blaine were trying to pick out a record to put on.

Quinn picked up one of Rachel’s hands and softly ran her fingers across Rachel’s palms. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around for you.”

Rachel frowned, wondering where that confession came from. “Quinn, I know you’re busy with school.”

“There are more important things than school,” Quinn found Rachel’s eyes. “I should have come back. I should have-”

Rachel shook her head, “Don’t talk like that. Please.” Rachel took Quinn’s face in her hands, “You are going to do great, great things Quinn. Don’t have any regrets.”

“I have so many,” Quinn sighed softly. Her eyes flickered down to Rachel’s lips while she bit her own.

Rachel saw Quinn’s eyes and knew what she was looking at. It made her self-conscious. She licked her lips slowly and maybe a little teasingly.

Santana used a wine bottle as a crutch to sit up, “Where are Dani and Brittany?”

“They went onto the fire escape like twenty minutes ago,” Blaine pointed over Kurt’s shoulder.

Santana decided to investigate and swayed a little as she walked, but got her bearings and crawled out the window onto the fire escape. It didn’t look like anyone was on the fire escape. She was about to go back into the apartment when she heard a familiar voice. It was Dani, “C’mon, Santana would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

Santana heard the voice come from the roof and started ascending the fire escape.

“You wanted to see the stars,” Brittany called back, “Get up here.”

“I don’t think sitting on top of the AC is going to – whoa – okay then.”

Santana used the ladder to get onto the roof and watched Brittany direct Dani on top of the AC unit on top of the apartment. It couldn’t have been more than a few feet off of the ground. Santana watched smoke spill out of Brittany’s mouth as she looked into the sky. She passed a joint with a glowing tip to Dani to easily inhaled what Santana smelled to be pot.

Santana smiled and watched Brittany and Dani tried to find some stars in the pitch black sky.

“Oh! Is that one?!” Dani pointed excitedly. Then she dropped her arm, “Damn, that’s a plane.” Dani looked over at Brittany, “Hey, you go to MIT. How do planes work? Is it like a really big fan?”

Brittany took the joint back and inhaled deeply. She nodded, “Kinda.”

“Oh my god. You two are so baked,” Santana walked over to them and easily hopped up onto the AC unit.

Dani and Brittany looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

Santana rolled her eyes good naturedly and lifted the joint from Brittany’s fingers, taking a hit herself.

Quinn was quietly telling Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, and Puck about her career as many secondary characters in Yale’s many high-profile productions, when Brittany, Santana, and Dani crawled back in the window.

Puck sniffed the air, “Where’s the pot?”

“All gone,” Santana grinned lazily.

“No fair,” he frowned.

Quinn looked up at Santana as Santana walked past the back of the couch, “You could have at least saved us some. It is the holiday of sharing.”

“I know a guy,” Dani offered.

Santana looked out the window and stopped behind the couch, “You’re not going by yourself. Not at night.”

“What are you gonna do?” Dani teased, “Go all Lima Heights?”

Puck laughed, “You’re still using that?”

Santana slugged Puck in the arm, “Fuck off.”

Puck just laughed harder and stood up, “I’ll go with you and protect your girl.”

“I don’t know how I feel about-” Blaine started, but Kurt cut him off.

“You don’t want to smoke marijuana, but you drank almost half a bottle of Sherry by youself?” Kurt looked up at Blaine.

Blaine thought it over and shrugged.

Quinn looked down at Rachel and ran her fingers through Rachel’s hair all at once, “How do you feel about this?”

“Believe it or not, Madam Fabray,” Rachel grinned, “I have mellowed out a lot.”

“I can tell,” Quinn smiled adoringly down at Rachel.

“Let’s hit it Puckerman,” Dani walked to the door. Puck sauntered after her.

“Hey,” Santana barked at the door.

Dani and Puck both stopped with the door half open. Santana strode over to them and pulled Dani to her by the flaps of her jacket, their lips crashing together. Dani grinned into the kiss. When Santana pulled away Dani smiled, “Sorry.”

Santana slapped Dani’s ass and told her, “Just don’t forget again.”

Dani saluted Santana and pushed a dazed Puck out the door. Kurt turned on a movie and everyone just sort of started watching the movie without talking about it.

 When Puck and Dani got back from their deal, everyone started smoking and the conversation lulled into random observations.

Suddenly Santana sat up quickly and looked around the room. She narrowed her eyes and scanned the entire group before letting out a wicked grin. She feel back and rested her head on the pillow behind her, “I’ve slept with most of the people in this room.”

Rachel laughed, “Dani, Brittany, and Puck do not make up a majority of the people in this room.”

“Dani, Brittany, Puck, and Quinn do,” Santana sang.

Brittany’s voice floated in from somewhere no one could see, “You could also count yourself.”

“God, I’m awesome,” Santana looked up at the ceiling.

“Excuse me, when did you take a dip in the Santana pool?” Puck asked Quinn.

Quinn shrugged and continued playing with Rachel’s hair, “It was at Mr. Schue’s wedding. It was a one time thing.”

“Fuck you. It was a five time thing,” Santana pointed at the blonde.

Suddenly Kurt shot out of his chair and quickly walked to the kitchen. He started rummaging around in the cupboards muttering something about cookies. Blaine just rolled off the arm of the chair into the chair Kurt had just vacated.

“Where’s Brittany?” Rachel asked, not moving from her happy place with her head in Quinn’s lap as the blonde continued to stroke her hair.

Dani chuckled from her seat on the window sill, “She’s under the couch.” Dani took a long inhale of the joint still in her hand.

“Britt,” Santana lulled her head to the side and could see her ex from between the legs of the coffee table. “Why are you under the couch?”

Brittany wiggled a pencil in front of her face. “I just figured out the solution to an equation that’s in the hallway at my school.” Santana watched as Brittany turned back to the bottom of the couch and kept writing.

“You’re writing equations on the bottom of the couch?” Santana narrowed her eyes, knowing that it was entire something Brittany would do, but still kinda skeptical.

“Kurt would have yelled at me if I would have written on the walls,” Brittany mumbled and squinted at the couch only an inch from her face.

Kurt was sitting on the dining table with a bowl of pudding in his lap. He added with a full mouth, “Damn right.”

“Dani,” Brittany held out her hand out from under the couch.

Dani stood up and walked over to the couch, putting the joint in Brittany’s hand. Then Brittany pulled Dani down onto the ground and pointed to the couch right under Quinn. “Does this look right?”

Dani laid down and looked over the small portion Brittany did in the corner. Dani paused and pointed, “That’s supposed to be an 8 sub k.”

“Oh you’re right,” Brittany moved her pencil and the sound of scratching under the couch continued.

“I have no idea about the rest of it,” Dani waved her hand around gesturing to the massive amount of math Brittany was doing on the wooden bottom of the couch.

“Thanks,” Brittany put the joint in her mouth and started writing again.

“Dani,” Rachel asked, after listening to the conversation, “You’re good at math.”

“Yup,” Dani stood up from the ground and went back to her window seat, “I do the books for the diner. My mom was a calculus professor.”

“What is this?” Puck’s voice came from the doorway to Kurt’s room. He had Kurt’s boyfriend pillow hung around his neck.

Kurt flew from his chair to Puck who yanked it off of him. “What were you doing in my room?”

“Looking for the can,” Puck stated with a grin, “Is that like a cuddle pillow?”

“Yes,” Kurt huffed indignantly.

“Santana has one,” Brittany added as she shimmied out from under the couch.

“Brittany!” Santana squealed as Blaine, Rachel, and Quinn snickered. “How did you find that out?”

Dani looked over at her girlfriend, “I told her.”

“How does that come up in conversation?” Santana sat up and looked between Dani and Brittany.

Dani looked over at Brittany and scrunched up her nose, “I don’t remember.”

“Me either,” Brittany shrugged. “Can I turn the couch over? I need to get a picture of the formula?”

It was nearing dawn when it was finally quiet in the apartment. The couch was still in its upturned position. Puck was leaning back on the back of the couch, asleep. Kurt fell asleep in the armchair and Blaine was asleep in his lap, his legs hanging over the arms.

Kurt opened his eyes slowly and groaned. He tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but he found that he couldn’t because of Blaine. However, because of the movement Blaine woke up.

Their groaning woke up Puck who ran a hand over his head. He looked around the apartment and found that there were a lot of people missing.

“Where are the girls?” Puck mumbled, slowly stumbling to his feet.

Kurt and Blaine looked around realizing that their friends weren’t present. Blaine rolled his neck, “They probably went to bed.”

Puck scratched the back of his neck. “I’m gonna go wake them up. We should go get some breakfast before I have to get out of town.” Puck went to Rachel’s room. It was completely empty. Then he moved to Santana’s room and found it empty. The mattress was also gone off of her bed. He checked Kurt’s room and it was the same as it was the night before.

“Santana’s mattress is gone,” Puck went to the refrigerator and opened it. He grabbed a bottle of water and chugged the whole thing. Then he went back to the living room. He saw the empty bag that used to contain a substantial amount of marijuana and a few empty liquor and wine bottles. The couch still had Brittany math on the bottom of it.

He bent down to turn the couch back over when he hears a loud smacking noise, like the sound of skin hitting skin. Kurt had hit his forehead with his hand, suddenly remembering, “They’re on the roof.”

The boys climbed up onto the roof and found that there was in fact a mattress on the roof with five sleeping young women on it. They were covered in various blankets and all tangled together in a mess of limbs and hair.

Blaine’s mouth just hung open. “How did they even get the mattress up here?”

“Rachel,” Kurt walked over to the mattress and started trying to rouse the tiny diva. Rachel just whimpered and tried to hide in Quinn’s chest. Quinn held Rachel tighter against her and slipped her hands under Rachel’s shirt in her sleep. She absently rubbed Rachel’s back as she was rising back to the waking world.

Brittany readjusted her position between Rachel and Santana, inadvertently jostling Santana. “Oh my god,” Santana moaned, “What time is it?”

Blaine looked at his watch, “Almost three.”

“I gotta go to work,” Santana seemed to be in a state of half-sleep as she started moving around.

“No,” Dani grabbed Santana’s sleeve and pulled her back down on the mattress, “Too cold.”

Santana just accepted the tug and collapsed on the bed, going back to sleep.

“Fuck it,” Puck found a small spot at the foot of the bed and laid down, pulling some of the blankets over himself before going back to sleep.

Blaine looked at Kurt who shook his head. He took Blaine’s hand, “Let’s just go back inside and get some sleep.”

Blaine nodded and followed Kurt back into the apartment, leaving the mass of bodies on the lone mattress to sleep off their hangovers on the roof, in the chilly New York day.


	3. Christmas Wrapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cute/fluffy Dantana prompt where they're wrapping Christmas gifts together and Santana keeps getting frustrated because she can't wrap presents well but wont let Dani help her.

Dani smiled, looking across the living room floor at Santana tangled in ribbons and wrapping paper. Santana was glaring hard at a corner of some gold, glossy wrapping paper as she tried to smooth it out.

“Babe, I wrapped presents at the mall last year during the holiday rush,” Dani offered, softly as not to startle or anger an already frustrated Santana. “I could, uh -“

“I got it,” Santana growled and snatched up the tape with a hand, that if one blinked too long, looked like a viper attacking some helpless prey.

“Okay,” Dani tried to crush a smile, but was failing. She just set aside her third present while Santana was still on her first.

“I have watched my mom do this a thousand times,” Santana exclaimed as a roll of gift tape went sailing across the room and right onto the dining table and sliding off the other side. “Why can’t I fucking do this?”

Dani wanted to offer to help, but she was scared that she’d get snapped at again. So she stood and went to the kitchen. She started the kettle to boiling and waited for it, keeping an eye on Santana so the bathrobe that Santana bought for her mom didn’t get stabbed with craft scissors.

Then when the kettle was done, Dani made some tea and added cream and sugar like Santana liked it. Then she walked over to her girlfriend and set the tea on the coffee table next to Santana. Dani sat down behind Santana and put her legs on either side of her girlfriend. Dani rested her chin on Santana’s shoulder. “Christmas is fun, babe. No need to stress.”

“I just want it to look decent,” Santana sighed. She picked up her tea and took a sip. “It’s my first time buying presents for my parents that they didn’t actually pay for. I want it to be nice. So I can feel like I’m actually doing something with my life. It’s stupid.”

Dani kissed the curve of Santana’s neck and put her hands on Santana’s upper arms, “I understand.” She waited for Santana to put her tea down before running her hands down the length of Santana’s arms. She cupped the back of Santana’s hands in her own and moved them down to the gift, “But sometimes it’s okay to get a little help.”

Dani gently instructed Santana on what to do while pointing and occasionally manipulating Santana’s hands to get them to do what needed to be done. When they finished, Dani wrapped her arms around Santana’s waist and rested her head against Santana, “Good job, babe.”

“Thanks,” Santana leaned back into Dani. She reached her hand back over her shoulder and touched Dani’s face. Then she turned her head and kissed Dani.

Dani smiled, “Only seven more to go.”

Santana groaned, not able to revel in her small victory any longer.

Dani scooted away from Santana and stood up, “I’ll go make some more tea.”


	4. Cuddle Cures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Santana taking care of sick Dani.

“Where’s Dani?” Santana asked Gunther after she had spent two hours on her shift and hadn’t seen her.

“She called in sick,” Gunther huffed. “First time in two years. She sounded terrible.” He grunted as he picked up a case of glasses to carry into the back.

“Oh, no, you kicked me out of the bathroom in the middle of my facial routine so you could spend three hours in the bathroom getting ready for nothing,” Kurt deadpanned as he walked past her with a tray in his hand.

The rest of her shift, Santana wondered why Dani didn’t call her. She worried about Dani alone in her apartment. She wondered what Dani was sick with. She was so preoccupied that she didn’t hear Rachel ask her if she wanted to go shopping with her and Kurt after shift. She just grabbed her purse and left the second her shift was over.

When she got to Dani’s apartment, she knocked on the door. There was a loud thump and a groan before a pause. Then the locks clicked back. “What are you doing here?” Dani asked even before Santana came into view, having seen her in the peephole.

“You’re sick,” Santana stepped into the apartment and looked around, then took in Dani’s appearance. Dani was wearing a huge grey sweatshirt that had Mickey Mouse on it. Her blue sweatpants were just as baggy and her hair was up in a crazy ponytail. “I came to check on you.”

Dani sniffled and then coughed, “I’m fine.”

Santana looked at her girlfriend with a quirked eyebrow. Santana pulled Dani to her by the back of her neck and kissed her forehead, “You have a fever. Get in bed.”

“You gotta go,” Dani told Santana, “I don’t want you to get sick.”

Santana dropped her purse on the couch and then took off her coat, “I grew up in a hospital. I’m basically immune to everything. Get in bed.”

Dani knew better than to argue with Santana for too long. She shuffled across the studio apartment and crawled gingerly onto the bed. She pulled the blankets up over her and watched Santana start picking up the hot mess that was her apartment.

Dani laid on her side so that she could put her head on her pillows and watch Santana move around. “What are you doing? Babe,” Dani whined in a weak voice, “Stop. I can do that later.”

“I’m doing it now,” Santana stated, not stopping as she tossed a blanket into a dirty clothes pile by the door. “Where’s your laundry basket?”

“Under the bed,” Dani picked up a tissue and wiped her nose with it.

“Where’s the laundry room?” Santana asked.

“It’s on this floor,” Dani watched Santana walk toward her, “But you’re not going to do the laundry.”

“I am,” Santana knelt down and grabbed the empty laundry basket off of the floor. She kissed Dani’s head as she stood back up.

Dani weakly reached for Santana to stop her, but Santana was already walking away, “Stop. Why are you doing this?”

“I read an article like a million years ago that clean environments reduce patient stress which leads to quicker recoveries,” Santana put the dirty clothes in the basket. “I’ll be right back.” Santana waltzed out of the room and Dani couldn’t move to chase after her.

It was just a few minutes later that Santana walked back into the room. She looked around the tiny kitchen and started some soup to warming on the stove. Then she disappeared into the bathroom for a moment before stepping out with a wash cloth.

Santana sat down on the bed next to Dani and ran the wash cloth over Dani’s forehead. Dani let out a soft sigh, “Are you sure you’re not going to get sick?”

Santana nodded. “Germs are scared of me.”

“You’re really sweet, you know that?” Dani murmured.

“Don’t tell anyone else,” Santana grinned like it was a secret.

Dani took a deep breath and closed her eyes as Santana turned the wash cloth over. “How was work?”

“Boring,” Santana pushed some hair out of Dani’s face. “We sang One from A Chorus Line for the six o’clock showcase. Nothing big.” She kissed Dani’s forehead and then rested the washcloth on it. She went to the kitchen and turned off the heat under the soup. She moved some of the soup to a bowl and went back to the bed.

After some coercion, Dani stacked up her pillows and laid back on them. Santana moved the spoon around in the soup before scooping some broth up and adding, “Open up. Here comes the train.”

Dani narrowed her eyes at Santana and sniffled. “Not cool.”

Santana laughed then held the bowl while Dani took a few bites. She only took enough to satisfy Santana before laying back down.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Santana asked.

Dani nodded and yawned.

Santana turned Dani’s tv on and put in a DVD. Then she went to move Dani’s laundry over to the dryer. When she returned, Dani was staring blankly at the DVD menu. Santana smiled and crawled onto the bed behind Dani. She pressed play on the remote on the nightstand and started rubbing Dani’s back under her shirt.

Santana knew that Dani was on the verge of sleep, so she kept rubbing her back until she was sure Dani was asleep. It was halfway through the movie when Santana ran back to the laundry room to retrieve Dani’s clothes.

After folding them and putting them away, she put the soup away.

“Santana,” Dani called weakly from the bed.

Santana immediately walked over to the bed and sat next to Dani. Dani used all of her energy to tug on Santana’s sleeve to get her to lay down. Santana just smiled and tucked herself in behind Dani. Dani smiled when she felt Santana’s arm around her waist under the blanket.

“You’re the best girlfriend ever,” Dani placed her hand on top of Santana’s.

Santana slipped her fingers between Dani’s and kissed the back of Dani’s neck. “Yeah, well don’t go spreading it around.”


	5. Bringing In The Holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super fluffy and awesome Dantana

“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Santana asked, looking over at Dani from her laptop. It had just dawned on her as she booked her flight to Lima that she had no idea what Dani would be doing.

Dani shrugged, “I don’t know. Last year I worked, but Gunther decided to close this Thanksgiving, which is good. Last year was a disaster.”

Santana sat up straighter on her bed as Dani continued to fold her clothes. “You know how you told me that you’ve always wanted to visit the Midwest?”

Dani snorted, “No.” She had never said anything remotely close to that.She was born in a big city. She lives in a big city. Dani is a city person. Granted she may have mentioned once that she wanted to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but she didn’t think that Santana would remember that.

“Okay,” Santana smiled, “Well how about you come with me anyway?”

Dani finally realized what Santana was hinting at. “You want me to go with you back to Lima?”

Santana tried to play off how really nervous she was about asking. It would be the first time Dani met her parents and the first overnight trip they took together. It would be their first holiday together. “Yeah. I mean. It’ll be boring and freezing, but you won’t have to wait on anyone and my dad makes the best turkey.”

Dani started slowing down her folding and set her shirt down on the bed. She looked conflicted. She bit her lip and looked at Santana, “Wouldn’t it be weird?”

Santana shook her head, “Of course not. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, I just… I thought it would be nice.”

Dani smiled shyly, “Yeah, it totally would. I’ve just…I haven’t had a holiday with a family – any family since I…since I got kicked out you know?” She shook her head and picked up a shirt that needed to be folded before it wrinkled.

Santana set her laptop aside and scooted down the bed. She swung her legs over the side and stood up, taking the two steps it took to get to her girlfriend. She gently lifted the shirt Dani was folding out of her hands and placed it in the basket of clean clothes. She saw the insecurity in Dani’s face and pushed the sweeping bangs that Dani was hiding behind out of her face. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I was just offering.”

Dani shook her head, “I don’t think I can. I may have a gig to get to anyway.”

Santana nodded, accepting Dani’s lame excuse not to go. “I understand.” She kissed Dani teasingly, then smiled, “Lima is super lame anyway.”

+=+=+=+=+

Dani lay in her bed on Thanksgiving, wishing that she had the courage to go with Santana to Lima. Being alone on Thanksgiving and Christmas always just reminded her of how she didn’t really have a family anymore. She rolled onto her stomach and thought about calling Santana, but she didn’t want to seem whiney, especially after she made up a fake gig to get out of going to Lima.

Dani rolled back onto her back and stared at the ceiling of her apartment. It was stupid how scared she was of getting attached to another set of parents who would only kick her to the curb if she and Santana were ever to break up.

Finally, she decided that she needed to get out of her apartment so she started getting dressed, taking time to pick out clothes that she felt confident in and getting her make-up done just like she liked it. She smiled as she put on her eyeliner remember the first night she actually talked to Santana and how Santana stumbled around after she said that wasn’t a lesbian.

One last run of her fingers through her hair, made Dani feel like she was ready. She grabbed her coat and put on a scarf. As she reached for her phone, it rang startling her. She smiled when she saw it was Santana.

“Hey,” she answered happily.

“Hey,” Santana answered, “I didn’t wake you up did I?”

“Nope,” Dani grabbed her purse and her keys, “I was just heading out to get some coffee. What’s up?”

Santana paused, “Can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course,” Dani stepped out of her apartment and closed the door behind her. She locked it with a flip of her wrist and dropped her keys into her purse.

“I ordered Rachel’s Christmas present like three weeks ago and I got an email that it was delivered last night,” Santana explained. “Since it’s like a really rare Barbra Streisand record that I know I’m going to regret buying for her, could you go grab it so that it doesn’t get stolen? You know how shifty that bald guy is upstairs.”

“Yeah, of course,” Dani told her. “I’ll go there right after I get my coffee.”

“Take your time,” Santana answered. Then she added, “When’s your gig?”

“Um, that didn’t pan out,” Dani confessed. She didn’t add that it didn’t pan out before she used it as an excuse not to go to Lima.

“I’m sorry,” Santana stated, “It’s totally their loss.”

Dani was about to answer when she heard who she figured as Santana’s mom, “Santana, come peel these potatoes.”

Santana made a few noises like she was trying to start a sentence and didn’t know what to say.

“Have fun, babe,” Dani walked into the coffee shop down from her apartment. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah,” Santana said, “See ya.”

After spending way more on coffee than she should have, Dani took the train to Brooklyn, music playing in her headphones the whole way. She walked from the subway to the building where Santana, Kurt, and Rachel lived. She walked up the stairs to their floor and then down the hallway. She spotted a box in the hallway in front of their apartment and walked toward it.

The box was small and square and she wondered if Santana got ripped off because there was no way for a record to fit in it. When she knelt down to pick it up, she saw a note on top of it. It simply said, “Dani, Come inside.” It was signed with a heart and Santana’s name.

She looked up at the door confused. She found the door was cracked open. Living in New York for as long as she had, Dani was worried about burglars. She immediately pulled out one of her headphones and pushed the door open wider. She was reaching for the phone to call the cops when she realized that there were no burglars.

Inside the apartment she spotted Santana along with a short, older woman and an older man with glasses in the kitchen. She saw two men sitting on the couch watching tv, and another man in the armchair. She spotted Rachel joking with an older woman and another man as they set a large table that wasn’t there last time Dani was.

There were autumn color fabrics draped around the apartment and beautiful Thanksgiving decorations everywhere. She stepped into the apartment and could smell all the delicious things that were being made in the kitchen.

“Santana!” Rachel called happily. “Dani’s here.”

Dani looked up and Saw Rachel smiling at her. She smiled nervously back. When Santana got close enough, Dani asked, “What’s going on?”

“Um, slight change in plans,” Santana told Dani, wrapping her arms around Dani. She looked a little nervous when she pulled away, “Surprise?”

Dani looked at all the decorations and all the food that was already made. She looked at all the people in the apartment. “You moved Thanksgiving here? For me?”

Santana scrunched her lips to one side. It did seem kind of crazy when Dani put it that way. But she nodded anyway, “I know holidays have been rough since you moved out, but family is what you make it right. I have more than enough family to share.”

Dani could feel tears in her eyes. This is the first holiday since she moved out that someone had gone out of their way to make it special for her. She sniffled and looked at Santana, “I don’t…know what to say.” She threw her arms around Santana, “Thank you so much.”

Santana hugged Dani tight. She was glad that she could orchestrate the entire thing. Her parents were so supportive and everyone’s parents were happy to go to New York. It was the Hummel-Hudson’s first holiday without Finn and they didn’t particularly want to spend it in Lima. Rachel’s dads were more than happy to spend a holiday in New York.

Santana took Dani’s hand and pulled her over to the sitting area where the group of men were sitting. “Dani this is my dad, Joseph,” Santana pointed to the man sitting at the end of the couch.

He was a handsome man in a long sleeved polo and pressed khaki pants. He smiled a perfect smile at Dani and stood, “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

Dani was prepared for a handshake, but was not prepared for a hug. However, it was nice and she smiled. “Nice to meet you too.”

Santana finished introductions, “That is Burt Hummel, Kurt’s dad and Leroy Berry, Rachel’s dad.”

They both stood and shook Dani’s hand. Kurt walked over to Dani and hugged her, “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Thank you so much for helping,” Dani told him and pulled back, “The apartment is beautiful.”

Kurt grinned, glad to know that his friend and co-worker recognized his work when she saw it.

Then Santana pulled Dani to the other side of the apartment where Rachel hugged Dani, “Happy Thanksgiving, Dani.”

“Happy Thanksgiving, Rach,” Dani told her. “You look great.”

Rachel smiled, “Thank you. If I didn’t see the look of utter shock on your face, I would say that you knew you were coming to a Thanksgiving dinner.”

Dani chuckled and allowed Santana to pull her into the kitchen. Santana pulled her straight to the shorted woman there and said, “Mom, this is Dani.”

Santana’s mom put down her glass of wine and the wooden spoon she was using to stir whatever was in the pot. She looked Dani over as Dani fidgeted. Finally Santana’s mom smiled, “I’m Maribel. It’s so good to meet you.” She pulled Dani into a fierce hug. Something about the hug was so motherly that tears popped up in Dani’s eyes again. It had been a long time since anyone had hugged her like that.

Santana saw the tears and put her hand on Dani’s back. Maribel took Dani’s hands when she saw the look on Dani’s face and told her, “No matter what, you are always welcome to have holidays with us, mija.”  She straightened out Dani’s hair.

“Thank you, Mrs. Lopez,” Dani tried to blink away the tears.

“Call me Maribel,” she gently corrected Dani and hugged her again. “Would you like some wine? Santana seems to have an inordinately large amount of wine for someone who is only twenty.”

Dani laughed and looked at Santana who was blushing slightly.

“That would be awesome,” Dani nodded.

When Maribel stepped away to get the wine, Santana finished introducing Dani to everyone. Then she pulled Dani to the doorway of her room. They both leaned on opposite side of the doorframe facing each other.

“I hope this wasn’t too much,” Santana offered, still a little nervous. “I know I probably should have asked you and you can leave if you want to, but I wanted you to have happy memories of Thanksgiving instead of-”

Dani kissed her to stop her from talking. Santana was adorable when she babbled and sometimes Dani couldn’t help herself. She placed a hand on Santana’s cheek and took a moment to deepen the kiss before pulling back, “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Santana smiled, “Really? So it’s good?”

Dani nodded, “It’s amazing.”

Santana pulled Dani into her arms, “Are you ready to make new holiday memories together? Happy ones?”

Dani closed her eyes and nodded, “Yeah. I’m ready.”


	6. Making Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dantana's first serious fight.

You’re standing outside of the small bar. You’re not sure if you’re going to go in yet. You watch people mill in and out, wondering if any of them are here to see Dani or they’re just happening upon the bar. She looked down the nighttime street, lit up with neon and streetlamps. It’s cold and you can see your breath. When the wind blows your cheeks sting against the frigid air.

You think back to earlier. You both said things that you shouldn’t have. You were both hurt and you were both angry. When you walked out of her apartment, you were both in tears. You don’t even remember what started it anymore. You just remember needed to get out of there.

But here you are at the gig that she worked so hard to get because no matter how mad you are at her, you can’t miss this. This is her first solo show. After playing in the diner, at open mic nights, and on street corners since she got to New York, someone asked her to actually do a show on her own. You couldn’t miss it. This is huge for her.

Of course you’ve been standing outside for most of her set, waiting for the courage to go inside. You’ve been hearing parts of her songs when the door opens and someone walks in or out. You’re leaning on the building right next to the front door. You’ve gotten some strange looks, but you don’t care. You shove your hands into your pockets and look at the ground, trying to make out what’s happening inside.

A man opens the door and holds it open for a small group of people. You can hear Dani talking as they all walk past you. “I guess the person I wrote it about isn’t coming tonight.” She pauses, “I, um, I wrote this song this afternoon so it’s kinda rough.”

You know that she’s talking about you. You feel terrible that she knows that you’re not inside. You finally decide to go in as you hear the first strums of her guitar. Her fingers move to deftly over the strings that you’re immediately mesmerized. She’s looking down at her guitar and slightly swaying on the tiny stage that’s barely big enough for her stool.

She has her eyes closed when she puts her mouth behind the microphone. You stand next to the door, leaning against the far wall from her. It’s dark in your spot and you’re not sure that even if she looked right at you, she could make out that it was you.

Hey, yeah yeah  
I hate you, don’t leave me  
I feel like I can’t breathe  
Just hold me, don’t touch me  
And I want you to love me  
But I need you to trust me

 

You can hear her voice shake as she sings. You’re sure that no one else could notice, but you’ve heard it before. It was only a few times, but you’ll never forget it. With every trembling syllable, she releases her sadness and you can feel it all over you.

  
Stay with me, set me free  
But I can’t back down  
No, I can’t deny  
That I’m staying now  
‘Cause I can’t decide  
Confused and scared  
I am terrified of you

Her eyes finally make it out to the audience. No one is moving at all in the bar. The bartender has stopped pouring and everyone has stopped drinking. Everyone is so rapt with her song. Everyone is feeling her pain. Especially you – most of all you because you know that song is about you.

 

You love how she can go from belting out a verse to quietly singing the chorus. It’s like she’s showing the entire room all the sides of her, opening her chest so that you can all see what’s she’s feeling. You know that everyone can see, but you’re the only one that understands.

  
I admit I’m in and out of my head  
Don’t listen to a single word I’ve said  
Just hear me out before you run away  
‘Cause I can’t take this pain  
  
I hate you, don’t leave me  
  
I hate you, don’t leave me  
‘Cause I love when you kiss me  
I’m in pieces, you complete me  
But I can’t back down  
No, I can’t deny  
That I’m staying now  
‘Cause I can’t decide  
Confused and scared  
I am terrified of you 

You know that Dani’s songwriting is always earnest. She’s played you a few things and you can see all the sensations in her face. You can see the wild passion and the deep sadness. You can see the joy and all the love that she has to give when she sings to you. You could spend days just being serenaded by Dani and her guitar.

 

You realize that you’re crying and wipe at your face with the sleeve of your jacket. This song touches you more than any other song you’ve ever heard. In this song, you can hear the fear and the guilt. She apologizing the best way that she knows how and she’s not even sure that you’re present.

  
I’m addicted to the madness  
I’m a daughter of the sadness  
I’ve been here too many times before  
Been abandoned and I’m scared now  
I can’t handle another fall out  
I’m fragile, just washed upon the shore  
  
They forget me, don’t see me  
When they love me, they leave me  
  
No, I can’t take this pain  
I hate you, don’t leave me  
I hate you, please love me

 

You see her dip her head down with the last quaking note in her voice. You know that you just saw a tear run down her face. She takes a moment and subtly wipes it away. She puts on a smile and looked at the crowd that has started applauding her. “Thank you. Thank you all so much. That’s it for tonight.”

You linger near the door. It’s nearing closing time so the people that aren’t sticking around to talk to Dani are milling out. There is a wall of people between you and her. Through the peeks you get of her, you can see that her smile has turned real, but the sadness is still in her eyes.

You make a decision and turn on your heel, letting the crowd guide you into the night. You don’t go far though. You sit down on the window sill of the bar and wait.

You don’t know how long it has been, but after a while Dani’s guitar precedes her out the door. You push off of the sill and watch her put her hand in her pocket as she steps onto the sidewalk. She stops dead when she sees you.

You walk right up to her and kiss her. You rest your hand on her cheek. You admit that you surprised yourself with that kiss. You were planning on talking or something, but you just went with it.

When your lips part you keep your hand on her face and press your forehead to hers. You sing quietly to her the song that wrote about you, “I admit, I’m in and out of my head, don’t listen to a sing word I’ve said.Just hear me out before you run away. ‘Cause I can’t take this pain.”

There are tears on both of your faces when you’re done singing her song back to her. You kiss her again and feel her arms wrap around you.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers against your lips.

You shake your head, “It was stupid. Whatever I said, I didn’t mean it. I love you.”

She slows her movements and you realize that that is the first time you’ve told her that. She places her hand on the back of your neck and kisses you fiercely. Then a smile that she can’t contain breaks the kiss. Her eyes flutter open, locking with yours that are still swimming in tears, and she smiles at you, “I love you too.”

You grin and let out a breath that you’ve been holding since you walked out of her apartment. You let your hands fall away from her face and offer her your hand, “Can I walk you home?”

“I’d like that,” she picks up her guitar and takes your hand. 


	7. All Is Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani cheats?gets caught?

"I am out of chips," Santana leaned back on the couch and looked over at the Monopoly board on the coffee table. They had been at the game for over an hour and she was getting bored, but she was too hardheaded to quit.

Dani picked up the dice and rolled them. She grinned as she moved the little dog down the line. “And, I land right here.” She picked up a chance card. She looked over the card and frowned. If she followed the card’s instructions, she would land on one of the four railroads that Santana owned and she was running low on cash. Then she thought for a moment and said out loud with a grin, “First place in a beauty pageant, collect twenty dollars from each player.”

Santana went to reach for a twenty out of her substantial pile when she stopped. “Hold up, that is not a real card.”

"It is," Dani pouted on the other side of the coffee table.

"Bullshit," Santana narrowed her eyes, "Let me see it."

Dani pressed the card to her chest, “I don’t have anything to prove to you. Don’t you trust me.”

"Don’t give me that shit," Santana reached over the table. "Let me see."

Dani thought quickly and shoved the card down her shirt and into her bra.

"That’s it," Santana set the chips aside and stood up. She rounded the table, "You know I’ll go in there to get that."

Dani quickly stood and jumped over the couch, “You’ll have to catch me first.”

Santana ran after Dani who ended up cornered, standing on Santana’s bed. Santana put her hands on her hips, “Do you give up?”

"Never," Dani grinned, mischievously. 

Santana grabbed both of Dani’s ankles before Dani could react and pulled her girlfriend’s legs out in from under her. Dani landed on her ass, but flopped onto her back.

Santana jumped up on the bed and kissed Dani, letting her hand snake under Dani’s shirt. Dani was so into the kiss that she almost didn’t feel Santana’s fingers dip into her bra and extract the card.

Santana pulled the card out of her shirt and broke the kiss. She read over the card and stood up, thrusting her fists into the air, “You owe me two hundred dollars!”

Dani rolled her eyes. She grabbed Santana’s shirt and pulled her onto the bed, rolling on top of her, “I don’t have two hundred dollars, but I’m sure there’s some other way I can repay you.” Dani dropped a baiting kiss on Santana’s lips.

Santana hummed into the kiss. She pulled down down hard on top of her, “I suppose we can work something out.”


	8. Three Is Never A Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Threesome Dantittany (so everybody can just get along). :))

Santana wasn’t really sure what was happening. There had been a few bottles of vodka and some dubious tasting brownies. Brittany came into town for some kind of science conference thing and Dani was surprisingly chill about it. Rachel went home at around midnight citing an early rehearsal.

Santana was really surprised about how close Brittany and Dani were sitting in the bar they were at. Santana felt really lightheaded and was swaying a little, but she could see Dani lean over to Brittany and talk loudly over the crowd and the music. Brittany clapped her hands and threw her head back in laughter.

Despite her sway, Santana ordered another round of shots.When they arrived, she passed them out to her girlfriend and her ex-girlfriend.

Dani held her shot up, “To new friends.”

"New friends," Brittany agreed, clicking her shot to Dani’s.

"To threesomes," Santana blurted out before she could stop herself.

Dani’s mouth fell open and Brittany froze.

Santana, being as inebriated and high as she was, just grinned. She clicked her shot glass to Dani’s and then to Brittany’s before downing it herself.

Brittany looked over at Dani with a quirked eyebrow. Dani grinned back and then clicked her shot with Brittany’s. They both took the shot and then put the shot glasses on the bar.

Brittany said something to Dani and then Dani looked over at Santana. Dani grabbed one of the flaps of Santana’s jacket and pulled her over between her legs. Santana leaned heavily on Dani. Dani kissed Santana’s neck and then whispered in her ear, “Are you lucid enough for a threesome?”

Santana pulled away and looked at Dani’s face, wondering how serious she was. She knew Dani was like a bohemian free-spirit kind of person, but even in her less that sober state she knew suggesting a threesome wasn’t the best idea.

Santana looked over Dani’s shoulder at Brittany who was smiling slyly. Santana nodded while Dani nibbled on the curve of her neck.

Dani slipped her hand into Santana’s and then offered her hand to Brittany. Brittany grinned and took Dani’s hand, threading her fingers through Dani’s.

Brittany had a bottle of whiskey in her hand when they made it back to her hotel room. Santana was excited and her shirt was the first to go and she was the first one on the bed.

Brittany took a drink from the bottle and offered it to Dani. Dani too a long sip, maintaining eye contact with Brittany near the foot of the bed.

Santana was wriggling out of her pants when Brittany dipped her head down, her lips connecting with Dani’s. She saw Dani’s tongue slip into Brittany’s mouth. Santana moaned, watching them make out.

Brittany and Dani both smiled out of the kiss and turned to Santana. Brittany’s eyes raked over Santana’s body. She had missed all the tan curves and how it felt under her hands. She looked at Dani who took her jacket off and kicked off her boots.

"Kiss again," Santana bit her bottom lip as she watched. She was resisting touching herself. She wriggled on the bed and watched.

Brittany kissed Dani again. She started to unbutton Dani’s shirt as they kissed. Dani moaned against Brittany’s lips as the taller woman’s hands finished unbuttoning her shirt and slid around her waist.

Dani broke away as Brittany pushed her shirt off. She pulled Brittany’s shirt over her head and then gave her one last peck on the lips. Then Dani held Brittany’s eyes and jerked her head toward Santana.

Brittany grinned wickedly and they both turned toward the bed. Santana’s hands started shaking because she knew the look in both of their eyes. Having dated both of them, she knew what was about to happen.

Brittany’s lips connected with hers, while Dani kissed around her neck. Dani’s hand slid under her bra while Brittany’s fingers played with the hem of her panties.

Santana didn’t know what to do with her hands. She managed to have enough coherent thoughts that she pulled Dani’s tights down with one hand and then unbuttoned Brittany’s jeans. She mumbled against Brittany’s lips, “Pants off.”

Dani took a second to get her tights off and then leaned over Santana to help Brittany get her jeans off. Brittany fell onto her back and Dani kissed Brittany’s stomach over Santana. As Dani moved her lips up Brittany’s stomach, Santana unhooked Dani’s bra and kissed at Dani’s neck.

Brittany pulled Dani’s lips up to hers as Dani’s hands started to wander under her bra. Santana watched them kiss again and licked her lips.

She pulled Dani onto her back and then pushed up on her knees so that she had on leg between each of the other girls’ legs. She grinned and looked down at both of them. “Best. Night. Ever.”


	9. Birthday Wishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dantana on Santana's birthday

Santana didn’t really expect much for her birthday. She knew that her friends and girlfriend were all working at the same diner and were making the same amount of money that she was.

She hadn’t seen Dani a whole lot over the last week and hoped that she had managed to get the night off to be at her party. It wasn’t going to be a huge party. Just Rachel, Kurt, a few of their friends, and hopefully Dani.

When party time came around, she got dressed in a tight dress, wanting to look her best on her day. She could hear people walking around outside of her room. 

She smiled, glad that she had people to share her birthday with and walked out. 

After half an hour and a glass of champagne, Santana was starting to think that Dani wasn’t going to show up. She didn’t want to be as upset as she was, but she really wanted Dani there.

So of course when Rachel yelled, “Hey, Dani!” a smile covered Santana’s face. She walked to the front door and found Dani talking to Rachel. 

"I almost didn’t think you’d show," Santana interrupted their conversation.

Dani smiled, “Of course I’d show up.” She had a small gift in her hand that was carefully wrapped in silver paper. She showed it to Santana, “Happy birthday, babe.”

"Thank you," Santana smiled. She reached for the gift, but Dani slipped it into her jacket pocket.

"I’ll give it to you later," Dani smirked.

Santana grinned. She understood that some things were better if she waited. Especially when it came to Dani. She grabbed Dani’s hand, “C’mon, let’s get you a drink.”

They walked together to the kitchen and Dani made them both drinks, insisting because it was Santana’s birthday. 

Santana leaned back on the counter and checked out her girlfriend. Dani was in black skinny jeans and heels. Her shirt was a ripped band t-shirt over a white tank top, all under an army green jacket. Her eyes lingered on Dani’s ass and she smiled to herself. 

Dani noticed and smiled. She turned around and handed Santana her drink. Santana grabbed Dani’s jacket and pulled her into a kiss. She hummed against Dani’s lips. She even made an attempt to get at her gift, but Dani caught her by the wrist.

"Good try," Dani grinned, "But you’re going to have to do better than that." 

"Fine," Santana smiled. "I’ll try harder next time." She pulled Dani back into a kiss. Dani’s hand made it’s way to Santana’s cheek. She slipped her hand behind Santana’s neck and pulled her deeper into a kiss.

Santana broke the kiss when she heard someone call her name. But she paused in front of Dani before acknowledging the call. She gave Dani a parting peck before pulling her girlfriend with her through the crowd.

As the party wound down, Santana pulled Dani to her bedroom. She sat down on the bed and patted a spot next to her. Dani smiled and sat down. She went in for a teasing kiss, barely letting their lips brush together. 

She started singing quietly, her voice barely above a whisper, “Happy birthday to you.” She kissed Santana, “Happy birthday to you.” She moved her head down and dropped a kiss on Santana’s neck. “Happy birthday sexy goddess.” She kissed the other side of Santana’s neck, “Happy birthday to you.”

Santana smiled at the compliment in the song and pushed Dani’s jacket off of her shoulders, hoping that she was going to get lucky on her birthday.

"Wait," Dani pulled back and shook off her jacket, but picked it back up. She pulled the present out of the pocket and offered it to Santana. She seemed a little nervous about it now that she was about to actually give it to Santana. She swallowed and met her girlfriend’s eyes, "It’s not much."

"I already love it," Santana plucked it out of Dani’s hand. She waited for Dani’s hesitant smile before carefully unwrapping the gift.

Underneath the silver wrapping was a gold box. It was thin and square in her hand. She looked at Dani who was watching for a reaction. Santana placed her hand on top of the box, lingering a moment before pulling off the lid.

The first thing that caught her eyes was a delicate silver chain with a swirling diamond studded pendant dangling from it. She pulled it out immediately. “Oh my god.” She looked up at Dani, “How did you afford this?”

Dani shrugged, “I picked up a few extra shifts at the diner, gave some piano lessons.” She smiled softly, watching Santana’s face light up, “I have to go pick it up. That’s why I was late.”

"Can you put it on me?" Santana asked.

Dani nodded and gently took the necklace from Santana. She unclasped the back and looped her arms around Santana’s neck, clasping it back together.

Santana looked down and saw it hang perfectly on her chest. Her eyes drifted back to the box where something was still hiding. She turned the box over, dumping out a thing CD case. In the case was a burned CD. On the front, in purple marker, it read “Eyes of an Angel.”

When Santana looked at her, Dani looked nervous again. Dani licked her lips, “I, um, I wrote a song about you - for you.” She ran a hand through her hair, “I wanted you to be the first to hear it.”

Santana looked back down at the CD in it’s case. She ran her finger over the top of it and then looked back at Dani. She didn’t say anything. She just kissed her. She didn’t know that she could find the right way to thank Dani. This was more than she ever expected. 

"Thank you so much," Santana whispered against Dani’s lips. 

Dani smiled, relieved and excited that Santana loved her gifts. She kissed Santana again, “Happy birthday.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brittany goes to New York and finds Santana and Dani happy together.

She knew that she should have called first. Her mom always told her it was rude to just show up places. But she thought it would be nice to surprise Santana. They hadn’t talked a lot lately and Brittany couldn’t stand it anymore.

However, she realized she should have called as she was walking to Santana’s work from the subway. A block from where she got off of the subway, she spotted two women kissing on the front stoop of an apartment building. Brittany was ready to walk right past them when she realized that one of the women – the one leaning back on the railing and smiling into the kiss was Santana.

The other woman with her was wearing the same uniform as Santana. She held her hand out for Santana, who took it. They started walking down the stairs.

Brittany couldn’t move. She just watched them descend the stairs, holding hands. She watched Santana looked toward the opposite street corner. Then she saw the other woman spot her. They held each other’s eyes for a moment before she stopped walking, making Santana stop as well. She said something to Santana and pointed right at Brittany.

Santana turned her head and froze the second her eyes fell onto Brittany. She walked over to Brittany, pulling the other woman with her.

“Brittany, what are you doing here?” Santana let go of the woman’s hand to hug Brittany.

Brittany swallowed, “I came to see you.”

The woman with Santana touched her arm, “I’m going to go into work. I’ll cover you.”

Santana looked over at the woman. She smiled, “Thanks, Dani.”

Dani didn’t try for a kiss. She offered Brittany a smile and said, “Nice to finally meet you.” Then she just turned around and walked off.

“Is everything alright?” Santana asked, knowing that at the very least something was wrong.

Brittany looked over Santana’s face and her uniform. She remembered the smile on Santana’s face when she kissed Dani. She kicked at the ground, “Is that your girlfriend?”

Santana slowly nodded. “Yeah,” she paused, “Are you okay?” She reached forward and took Brittany’s hands. “What’s going on? Are your parents okay? Your sister?”

Brittany shook out of her trance, “They’re all fine.” She held Santana’s eyes, “I actually came to see you.”

Santana let out a wide smile, “You should have called. I could have taken the day off and shown you around. How long are you in town? We can go shopping after I get off.” She frowned when Brittany wasn’t smiling at anything she was offering. Normally, Brittany would be bouncing up and down, ready to walk Santana to work so that she could hang out while she was waiting for Santana’s shift to be over.

Brittany bit her lip and then looked away, “San, I…” She trailed off, swallowing the rest of her sentence. She furrowed her eyebrows, “I…” Then she brightened up, “I’m moving to New York.”

Santana squinted her eyes at Brittany, “What do you mean? What about MIT? You were loving it there. What happened?”

Brittany took Santana’s hands and smiled, “Nothing happened. I just want to move here. And- and be close to you.”

Santana shook her head, “You can’t just throw away MIT so that we can go shopping together on the weekend.”

Tears pooled in Brittany’s eyes, “I  _miss_  you.” She touched Santana’s face, “I want to be with you.”

Stunned was a bit of an understatement. Santana was in shock for a good minute. She took her hands out of Brittany’s. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately,” Brittany felt a tear escape her eyelashes and make its way down her face. She wiped her face and continued, “I can date all the guy and girls that I want, but none of them are you.”

Santana looked around and crossed her arms. She thought hard over what Brittany was saying. She took a deep breath and took Brittany’s hand, pulling her to the front stoop of Dani’s apartment so that they could sit down. They both sat on the top stair and Santana leaned back on the railing so that she was facing Brittany. “Why are you really here?”

“I came to see you,” Brittany wrung her hands.

Santana could feel tears in her eyes as well. She looked down and back at Brittany, “Is this because you saw me with Dani?”

Brittany bit the inside of her cheek, “No, not – not really.” Brittany took a shaky breath, “I’ve been talking to Rachel. We were going to do something for your birthday. One day she told me that we’d have to invite your girlfriend.” Brittany looked down at her lap, “I knew you were going to move on. You’re awesome, San and there are so many people in this city. It made sense, but…I still miss you. I always have.”

“You’re allow to miss me,” Santana tilted her head, “And you’re allowed to call me when you miss me.”

“But I miss you more than friends,” Brittany watched a tear fall from her cheek into her lap.

Santana was having a hard time finding the words to respond, “Britt, you know that we can’t be together right now. You belong at MIT. You’re happier that you’ve been in a long time at school. And I belong here.” Her heart broke at the way Brittany’s face contorted in tears. She scooted over on the stair and wrapped her arms around Brittany. “I’m not saying we can never be together again. But we can’t right now.”

Logically, Brittany knew it made sense. If they were dating long distance, they would go through the same things they did when Santana left for college and she stayed in Lima. She knew that if she moved to New York, she would be miserable and missing the one place on the planet where she felt smart. She knew that Santana would be miserable in Cambridge.

Brittany drew in another trembling breath. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I get it,” Santana rubbed Brittany’s back.

After a moment, Brittany stood up out of Santana’s arms. Santana frowned, “What are you doing?”

Brittany sniffled and wiped her face, “You have to get to work and I have first spot at the diode laser tomorrow morning.”

Santana knew that Brittany needed to leave. She also wanted Brittany to stay for a little while. In the end, she differed to Brittany’s judgment. She stood and nodded. “Maybe you could come back sometime. If you call me before, I’ll take the day off and we’ll go shopping.”

Brittany nodded with a sad smile, “I’d love to.”

Santana met her at the bottom of the stairs and hugged Brittany. Then Santana fixed Brittany’s hair, that was a little messed up from their embrace.

Brittany ducked her head and stole a chaste kiss. Santana smiled softly against Brittany’s lips. When Brittany pulled back, she held Santana’s eyes for a moment, “Not now, but not never.”

Santana nodded, “Yeah.”

Brittany nodded to Santana, offering a small smile. She waited for Santana to return it before turning around and walking off, disappearing around the corner and into the New York night.


	11. Nights on the Couch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sntana gets hurt and Dani panics when she gets a call from Rachel that she's in the hospital.

Dani was surprised when Rachel’s name popped up on her screen. She was actually waiting to hear from Santana. Dani had a gig that night and she was waiting for Santana to show up before she went on.

"Hey," Dani was nonetheless happy to hear from her friend.

Rachel sniffled, “Dani, Santana’s in the hospital.”

It took her a moment to actually process what Rachel said. That wasn’t what she was expecting immediately after answering her phone. “What?”

"Santana was crossing the street and she got hit by a car," Rachel’s voice cracked. 

"I - I," Dani desperately tried to get her mouth and her brain connected again, "What- What hospital?"

"St. Luke’s," Rachel told her. 

Dani was already walking out the door, ignoring the bar manager that was calling her.

Rachel and Kurt were in the emergency waiting room when Dani arrived. They both looked terribly worried and it made Dani feel nauseous. 

Rachel stood up and hugged Dani. She squeezed Dani and whispered, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Dani hugged Kurt then watched them both sit down, “How long ago did it happen?”

Rachel looked at Kurt who stated, “Almost an hour. She’s been back there for most of that time.”

Dani nodded, numbly. “How was she when she went in?”

Tears flooded Rachel’s eyes, “The car was on top of her. I was right next to her and it didn’t touch me.” Tears trickled down Rachel’s face and she buried her face in Kurt’s shoulder.

Dani slowly moved to the chair next to Rachel’s. It was so hard to push what was happening through her brain. It all felt so surreal. Then she felt the tears. 

"Kurt Hummel?" a nurse called.

Kurt, Rachel, and Dani all stood together. The nurse looked at Kurt, “She’s okay. Right now it looks worse than it is. She has a concussion and a few lacerations and broken ribs.” 

Rachel turned and hugged Kurt. Dani just kind of wrapped her arms around herself. 

"I can take you to her now," the nurse explained before he lead the way down the white hallways.

In a large room, there was line of beds against the wall, all separated by green curtains. The nurse pulled back one of the curtains. Santana was lying in a bed, a small bandage on her forehead. There were bruises and scratches down the right side of her face. 

"Oh my god," Rachel breathed. 

Santana slowly opened her eyes. A sly smile crossed her lips, “It doesn’t look that bad, Berry.”

Rachel smiled through her tears, “You’re okay.”

"I’m fine," Santana’s eyes moved to Dani who was struggling to keep her composure, "You should see the other guy."

Dani slowly shook her head and offered Santana a small smile. She walked over to the bed and took Santana’s hand. She couldn’t form any words so she just held Santana’s hand.

"You look nice," Santana stated softly. Breathing was painful because of her broken and bruised ribs, but the painkillers were helping.

"So do you," Dana ran her thumb across the broken skin of Santana’s knuckle, "Even in a hospital bed."

"Yeah well someone had to class this place up," Santana said nonchalantly. She took a moment to look over Dani’s tear streaked face, "I’m sorry I missed your set."

Dani shrugged, “Well I missed it too, so no big.”

"I’m sorry," Santana gently squeezed Dani’s fingers. 

Dani shook her head, “Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault.”

For the next week, Santana couldn’t sleep in her bed because it was too soft. She had to sleep on the couch and every single night, Dani slept on the couch next to her to make sure that she was okay. 

Ten days after the accident, Santana woke up, bathed in the morning Brooklyn sun. She took a the first deep breath in a week that didn’t hurt. She smiled slightly and looked to her right. Dani was still passed out on the floor. Her hair was everywhere and her shirt was riding up her back. 

Santana started to sit up, but when she moved her hand she felt something in it. Santana looked down and saw that her fingers were still intertwined with Dani’s. Santana smiled and laid back down, ready to let Dani continue to sleep while she continued to hold her hand. 


	12. Love In The Right Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dantana's first I love you. And Dani knows how big a deal it is.

Dani closed her eyes. She was completely happy. She was just laying on the couch, her head in Santana’s lap and she was unbelievably happy. Soft music played from the stereo against the wall.

"Gaga week was so weird, but I looked fierce," Santana continued telling her story. "Britt and I spent like two hours in the hobby store trying to figure out how to make her lobster mask." Santana continued to run her fingers through Dani’s hair, "I had a giant bow on my head, but the rest of my outfit was black lace."

Dani used to worry that she’d never be able to compare to Brittany, but she learned that she didn’t have to. Dani understood how first loves were. The fire was ignited and burned forever, becoming a deep part of both hearts. She understood that Brittany was and is still important to Santana. She used to worry about it, but Dani couldn’t help, but fall in love with the way Santana’s eyes lit up when she talked about the shenanigans she and Brittany used to get into.

After a while Dani stopped trying to compare herself to Brittany. She knew that she could never compare, not because she wasn’t as awesome, but because they were two different people. She just knew that she could be herself and she learned how to make Santana’s eyes light up on her own.

Santana leaned down and kissed Dani softly. Then she picked up one of Dani’s arms. Santana commented, “I love this song.”

“Me too,” Dani answered.

Santana examined the tattoo across Dani’s forearm, “I love this one. It’s so beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Dani grinned, “It’s my favorite.”

Santana turned over Dani’s arm and ran her finger over the tattoo on Dani’s wrist. “Which one hurt the most?”

“The one on top of my foot,” Dani offered.

Santana looked over the tattoo on Dani’s other wrist and then kissed both of them. She ducked her head and kissed Dani’s lips again. She kept one of Dani’s hand in her own and then ran her other hand through Dani’s hair.

Santana hadn’t really felt that calm since moving to New York. Everything goes to fast and she loves it, but just hanging out with Dani like this gave her a safe, content feeling.

Dani looked up at Santana and they just looked at each other for a moment before Dani smiled. She bit her bottom lip and tucked some of Santana’s hair behind her ear.

Santana’s smile faded, but it wasn’t really a look Dani could read. She thought that something might be wrong until Santana kissed her again, this time slowly and softly. Santana broke the kiss and threaded her fingers through Dani’s, “I love you.”

Dani felt her heart soar. She knew this was a big thing for Santana to say. She knew Santana had had her heart broken and she wasn’t one that was quick to opening up to people. Dani felt privileged to be part of Santana’s world.

“I love you too,” Dani told Santana. She had known it was true for a while. The first time she was sure was when Santana was walking her home after work. They were standing on a street corner and Santana took her hand. Dani looked at her and Santana just smiled. She knew she was a goner in that moment.


	13. Mid-Evening Delight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dantana. santana convincing dani to have a quickie before the wonder twins get home. kurt and rachel walk in on them right at the end. hilarity ensues, kurt and rachel dont let santana live it down.

"C’mon," Santana grinned, her fingers under Dani’s shirt, grazing the underside of Dani’s bra. "They went to go get some wine. They’ll be gone forever. They can never agree on anything."

Dani’s hair was splayed out on the cushion of the couch and her hands were folded under her head, “What happens if they come back and catch us having sex on their couch?”

Santana kissed Dani’s neck, slowly in a way that she knew Dani loved, “Hummel will scream like a little girl and Rachel will yell, ‘My eyes’ or something” She kissed the special spot on Dani’s neck slowly, flicking her tongue over it.

Dani let out a breathy moan. “Babe,” she could barely form words. Santana snuck her fingers under the bottom of Dani’s bra and lightly ran her fingers over the skin under her fingers. 

Dani took Sananta’s face in her hands, drawing her in for a kiss, “Fine, you win.”

Santana moved back to Dani’s neck and grinned wickedly, “Give me a minute. You’ll win too.”

=+=+=+

"Santana doesn’t like pinot noir," Rachel stated as she and Kurt walked up to the stairs to the apartment. 

"She’ll like anything after one glass," Kurt quipped. He grabbed the handle of the door and heaved it open. 

Rachel walked in first. Santana was laying on top of Dani, her hand disappearing down between them. They were both panting and their foreheads were pressed together. Rachel dropped the bottle in her hand that landed with a loud clink onto the ground.

"Oh my god," Dani squealed. 

Kurt let out a girlish scream and Rachel covered her face, “My eyes!”

Santana zipped up her girlfriend’s jeans and kissed her cheek. She wanted to smile, but she knew that Dani would not be happy with her if she did. She readjusted Dani’s bra and pulled her shirt down. 

"I’m just gonna go," Dani stood up as soon as Santana was off of her. 

Santana grabbed her hand, “Hold on.” Santana turned to Rachel and Kurt, “We’re not naked you pervs. Dani had a cramp. I was helping her out.”

Kurt kept his hand over his eyes and pointed to the kitchen, “Wash your hands!”

"And the couch!" Rachel screeched.

"Oh my god," Dani put her head in her hands, embarrassed.

Santana just pulled Dani to her bedroom and closed the door. Dani sat down on the bed. “I can’t believe we did that.”

Santana moved to Dani and straddled her lap, “I can’t believe you’re going to let me do it again.” She kissed Dani, surprising her.


	14. Poster of Horrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Santana and Dani visit a haunted house on Halloween Night. (Fluff)

"I can’t believe I let you talk me into this," Dani muttered as she followed Santana through the line toward the haunted house.

"It’ll be fun," Santana smiled and took Dani’s hand. "I can’t believe that you’ve never been on one."

 Dani looked around, “I get scared easily.”

"I know," Santana opened the heavy back door for Dani, "You almost jumped into a tree when a mouse ran across the sidewalk yesterday on our way to work."

Dani ducked her head as she stepped into the haunted house. Santana followed close behind. She could feel Dani groping behind her in the dark so she took Dani’s other hand. 

"I’m going to close my eyes," Dani said, "You tell me when it’s over."

Santana slipped one of her arms around Dani’s waist, “You’ll be fine.”

Dani looked around as a howl sounded in the dark while they continued shuffling forward, “It’s easy for you to say while I’m in front of you.”

That didn’t last long. Dani jumped behind Santana the first time someone jumped out of them. After the initial shock, Santana grinned because she could feel Dani’s face pressed to her back. She placed her hands on Dani’s arms that were wrapped around her waist. “Doing okay back there.”

"Yup," Dani mumbled, "I didn’t need any dignity."

Santana laughed and started walking again. 

When they burst out the other side, Santana couldn’t stop laughing. She was doubled over next to the door while Dani stood over her with her arms crossed, “It wasn’t funny.”

Santana gasped for breath, “You punched Freddy Krueger.”

"I was a reflex!" Dani said exasperated.

Santana managed to control her laughter and put her arms around Dani, “I’m sorry. It was just - You’re such a badass. I have to take you on the subway with me.”

Dani tried to keep being mad at Santana for laughing, but it was hard when Santana was smiling at her like that. Dani huffed and rolled her eyes, “Can we just go home now?”

Santana nodded and kissed Dani, “Yeah, let’s go - hold up they have pictures?” Santana let go of Dani and ran over to the stand that was selling pictures. 

Dani prayed that Santana couldn’t find the one of them, but when Santana started laughing all over again, she knew that she did.

Dani walked over and saw that the camera had caught her mid-punch. 

"I need ten of this one," Santana pointed to the screen.

"Santana," Dani whined.

Santana put her arm around Dani’s shoulders, “I love you and these are adorable. And I don’t send Christmas cards, but if I can use this picture I might start this year.”

Dani put her head on Santana’s shoulder and started looking at the other pictures. After a beat, she looked up at Santana, “Wait, you love me?”

Santana froze as she was handing the money over to the vendor. She looked down at Dani, “I-I didn’t mean to say that- so- like - I do, but -“

Dani pushed up on her toes and kissed Santana. She fell back onto her heels and quietly added, “I love you too.”

Santana smiled and wrapped both of her arms around Dani. She took a deep breath and was glad that her feelings were reciprocated.

"Ma’am, your pictures," the vendor offered Santana a bag. 

She took the bag and looked into it. Then she asked the man, “Is there any way I can get one of these the size of a poster?”

Dani groaned and walked off, “I’ll be in the car.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dantanas first time

“Tonight is date number six,” Rachel sat next to Santana at the counter in the diner. She grabbed a salt shaker and started helping Santana fill them up.

Santana smiled, “Yeah.”

“What’s on the itinerary?” Rachel asked, “Moonlit walk through the park? Candlelit dinner? Romantic movie?”

Santana shrugged, “I don’t know. She wants to plan it today.”

Rachel grinned, “Sorry. I’m just trying to live vicariously through you, since my love life is naught.” She screwed the cap back on one of the shakers. “Have you two, you know, done it yet?”

“Done it?” Santana laughed, “What is this? Third grade?”

Rachel shrugged and turned toward Santana, “Well have you?”

Santana shook her head, “No. Not yet.” She looked at her hand, “I cut my nails like a week ago and everything.”

“I’m glad you did,” Rachel took Santana’s hand to look it over, “Even I was starting to fear for Dani’s safety.”

Santana looked across the diner and caught Dani’s eyes. They shared a smile before Santana returned to her conversation with Rachel, “You’re a perv.”

Dani took off an hour early, telling Santana to just come over to her apartment when she got off. Santana nodded, thankful that she remembered to bring a change of clothes with her.

When she did get off, she used the bathroom to change clothes then playfully told Rachel not to wait up for her.

Santana used Dani’s code to get into her apartment building and then walked up the two flights of stairs to the apartment. However when she got to the door, there was a purple note on it.  _You can put your stuff up and then meet me on the roof._  It was signed with a heart and Dani’s name.

Santana tried to door and found it locked. Then she frowned. However she saw a small line of tape at the bottom of the note. When she took the note off of the door, she found a key taped to the back of it. Santana couldn’t contain a smile. She took the key off of the note and unlocked the door.

After putting her things away as quickly as possible, she closed and locked the door. Santana pushed open the door to the roof and stepped outside. It was dark outside, but the twinkle lights hung up over across the roof made it shimmer. There was a makeshift table, partially covered in a white cloth, made out of crates stacked on top of each other and two next to it that Santana guessed were chair. On the crate table, there were two aluminum take home bowls, still covered on either side of a bottle of wine. The wine glasses shone in the soft lights overhead. She could hear the soft strumming of a guitar off of the side.

Santana spotted her girlfriend sitting on the ledge of the roof, playing her guitar. She would hum a little with her guitar and Santana smiled. She walked over to the ledge and sat down next to Dani.

Dani smiled when she saw Santana. She stopped playing, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Santana smiled. She looked behind her at the set up Dani had made, “This is beautiful.”

Dani looked down, “I mean, it’s not much.”

“I love it,” Santana leaned over and kissed Dani, taking her time to express how much she appreciated everything.

Dani smiled into the kiss, breaking it. “Are you hungry?”

“I will be after you play me a song,” Santana leaned back on the wall behind her.

Dani blushed. “Any requests?”

Santana just shook her head. She loved being serenaded by Dani. Her voice with her guitar just did something that crawled into Santana’s skin and made her feel warm and safe.

Santana watched Dani feel the song as she sang it. She watched Dani hit all the right notes in the right places. Occasionally Dani would look at her and they’d share a smile. Halfway through the song, Santana joined in singing the harmonies.

As the last chord sounded, Dani looked over at Santana, “You’re voice is so beautiful.”

Santana looked away, absolutely flattered, “Yours too.”

After sitting in silence for a while, they walked to the table. Dani pulled the lids off of the food and the hot food hit the cool night air creating a gentle swirl of stream. Santana kissed Dani before she sat down. Dani couldn’t stop smiling as she sat. She knew that she spent more than she should have for the food, but she figured that treating Santana was worth the sparse meals she’d eat until her next paycheck. She knew that she almost fell off of the roof hanging the lights, but she figured the risk was worth it. She loved the look on Santana’s face when she did something even remotely romantic.

“This is so good,” Santana commented on the food.

“I’m glad you like it,” Dani looked across the table at her. She wished that she would have had the time or money to go get some candles, because all she had in her apartment were the ugly emergency candles.

However, at the moment she was more enchanted by Santana than with the lack of candles or the expensive food. She loved the smile on Santana’s face and the way she was quietly taking everything in.

The wine was probably too expensive as well, but Dani found that she really couldn’t help herself when it came to making Santana smile. She poured herself some more and then topped off Santana’s. She finally started eating her food, knowing that if she didn’t the wine would go right to her head.

“This is the best date I’ve been on in…forever,” Santana confessed.

Dani smiled, “I see that I still have some work to do. I’m competitive. I’m going to keep trying until it’s the best ever.”

Santana smiled so wide she could barely talk, “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Dani looked down and then back up at Santana, “Just keep smiling at me like that.”

They didn’t talk much as they finished their food and finished the wine. Santana started to get cold and Dani stood from the table, shrugging off her jacket. She placed it on Santana’s shoulders and kissed her cheek.

They sat outside for a little while longer before the twinkle lights over them flicked and went out. They both laughed, barely able to see each other from the street lamps five floors down.

“I guess I should have gotten new lights,” Dani stood up from the table. She walked over to the side of the roof and picked up her guitar. “Shall we go inside?”

“Sounds good,” Santana picked up her wine glass, “Should we clean up?”

“I’ll get it later,” Dani opened the door for Santana.

When they got into Dani’s studio apartment, Santana immediately laid down on the bed. There wasn’t a lot of furniture in Dani’s apartment, but her bed was the best piece. It was so comfortable and she had spent a few nights in the bed watching movies with Dani before they went into work.

Dani laid down next to Santana and looked at her girlfriend. Santana immediately pulled Dani to her, kissing her hard. She pulled Dani on top of her. She felt Dani’s hands move up and down her sides. Santana pushed her hands up under Dani’s shirt, feeling the warm skin underneath.

As they kissed, Dani moved her lips down Santana’s neck. Santana pulled at Dani’s shirt, wanting it off. She pushed it off and over Dani’s head, tossing it to the side. Dani started unbuttoning Santana’s shirt all the way down the front, letting it fall open in front of her. She took a moment to take in the bare skin in front of her. Dani planted a series of light kisses above Santana’s breasts, then between them, finally trailing down her stomach.

Santana pulled off her shirt and sat up. She met Dani in the middle for a kiss. She knew where this was going and she couldn’t wait to get there. It was their first time together and she couldn’t think of a better lead up than what Dani had done for her.

Dani seemed to know as well. She moved her fingers lightly up and down Santana’s back. Santana rolled them over and grinned against Dani’s neck, knowing that she surprised her.

Santana had learned a thing or two with all the college girls as an experiment so she was able to unbutton Dani’s pants with a flip of her wrist. She watched Dani’s face as she pushed down Dani’s black pants. Dani bit her lip and held Santana’s eyes.

Santana couldn’t help, but kiss her way from the hem of Dani’s panties all the way up to her lips. Santana looked down into her eyes. She had to know before they went any farther, “Are you sure?”

Dani nodded, drawling Santana down for a kiss. “Yes.” She kissed her again, “Are you?”

Santana kissed the curve of Dani’s neck. Then her lips again, baiting her, “Yes.”


	16. Snowed In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Santana and Dani in their first snowstorm together.

Santana looked out the window of the diner. The snow was coming down so hard that almost no cars could get through. She sighed softly and wondered how she was going to get home when there were no cabs and the subway was either going to be crammed or nonfunctioning.

Gunther walked to the front door and put out the closed sign. Santana was confused, “We’re closing?”

Gunther nodded, “It’s too dangerous to stay open. None of the employees can get to work. And it’s not like any customers are going to be able to make it. He tossed a rag onto a table and reached under the counter, “If I was you, I’d get out of here now while you still can.” He pulled out a sleeping bag and unrolled it, laying it on the ground behind the counter.

Santana didn’t have to be told, then creeped out twice. She pulled on her parka and grabbed her purse. Outside it was freezing and she tried unsuccessfully to hail a cab. While she stood on the corner for two minutes, her boots were almost covered in snow.

It seemed that Santana only had one choice. Not that it was a choice she minded.

She only almost fell twice during the two block hike to the familiar apartment building. She jumped into the tiny room that housed the mailboxes and found the correct apartment number to buzz. She had to pull the outer door closed behind her to keep it from flying open again.

“Hello?” Dani’s voice filled the tiny room.

“Hey,” Santana pressed the talk button, “It’s Santana. I was wondering if I could hang out with you for a little while until the storm blows over. I just got off work and I’m kinda stuck on the island.”

“Yeah, totally,” Dani answered, “C’mon up.”

There was a buzz and then the door in front of Santana popped open.

Santana tried not to freeze to death as she walked up the stairs. The windows on the landings had terrible insulation so it was just like walking outside.

She quickly walked to Dani’s apartment door and knocked. She smiled when she remembered that she hadn’t actually been up here before. She stopped by one time to borrow a jacket from Dani, but she was in a rush so they met on the stoop.

The door opened.

“Hey,” Dani smiled. Then she pulled Santana into the apartment, “It’s freezing out here. I’m sorry.”

Santana took in Dani’s appearance. She saw the mess of the ponytail sticking out of her head, and the black framed glasses. Dani was wearing two long sleeved shirts and red plaid pajama pants. Her feet are in boot slippers. Then her eyes moved to the one room apartment. Half of one wall was the kitchen. Then past the only other door was a bed. The blankets were everywhere on the bed and the pillows were stacked near the head. In the opposite corner, a keyboard and Dani’s guitar were planted. Then in the middle of the room was tv that was currently facing the bed and a couch. Two space heaters were pointed at the bed.

“This is great,” Santana smiled. “Thanks for letting me come over.”

“It’s no big deal,” Dani moved toward the bed area. “Do you need something to change into? I know our uniforms aren’t super warm.”

“Please,” Santana nodded. She sat down on the couch and Dani turned one of the space heaters toward her before going in search of something warm.

Santana looked at the TV then leaned toward the bed a little to see what Dani had been watching. She grinned, “A little Fight Club for a cold winter’s night?”

Dani turned around while she was going through a stack of folded pants near her keyboard, “It was either that or restart watching Friends from the first episode.” Dani grabbed some sweat pants, knee high socks, and a sweatshirt. “Is this okay? It doesn’t get really warm in here.”

“It’s great,” Santana stood up.

Dani gestured to the door on the side wall, “There’s the bathroom if you wanna change in there.” Dani nervously put some hair behind her ear, “Do you want some cocoa or something?”

“That would be amazing,” Santana smiled and slipped into the bathroom. She changed as quickly as she could and when she came out, she found Dani moving the blankets from the bed, onto the couch. Then Dani turned the TV to the couch as well.

Santana placed her work clothes on the foot of the bed and then sat down on the couch, pulling the blankets onto herself. Dani returned with the cocoa and handed it to Santana.

Santana smiled up at her, “Thank you.” She blew on it and then took a sip.

Dani sat down on the other end of the couch and picked up her laptop that was connected to the TV, “Any requests?”

“Let’s keep watching Fight Club,” Santana mentioned, “I haven’t seen it in a while.”

Dani started the movie over as she wasn’t very far into it. Then she pulled some blanket onto herself.

After a little while, and a few coy glances, Dani finally spoke up, “You know we might be warmer if we cuddled a little bit.”

“You think so?” Santana asked.

Dani nodded, “I’m pretty sure. I mean I made a B in Biology in high school.”

Santana laughed and put her empty mug down. She crawled over to Dani and found a comfortable place in her arms.


	17. Fearless Defender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dantana; one of the customers grab Dani's butt and Santana yells at him in Spanish, after she's done yelling and embarrassing the guy, Dani tells her that she's never had anyone stick up for her before and that she loves a girl who can talk in Spanish.

You watch as Dani carries another tray across the diner. You swear that girl will work herself into the ground if Gunther let her pick up more than two shifts in a row. She does it all with an adorably dimpled smile too.

You see her walking to the window to put another ticket up so you meet her there under the guise of checking on some food your customers ordered.

“How’s it going?” you ask her.

She smiled at you, “Great. With the exception of table six, today is going great.”

You glance over at table six. Two men in business suits are laughing heartily as they stuff their faces with medium rare cheeseburgers. “Eww.”

“Wanna switch?” Dani asks playfully.

You start to tell her that you will when a cook in the back starts yelling at someone. You wince and turn to Dani who is smiling. She grins, “Half an hour until we get off.”

“I cannot wait,” you look up as one of your customers’ plates comes up through the pass.

“Let me know if you wanna do something,” Dani bumps her hip with yours and picks up some coffee to take to the diners.

You grin and pick up a plate. After you slide it to someone at the counter, you glance up to watch Dani. She’s refilling some coffee and joking with a customer. Then she moves to the next table. Table six. You’re about to turn back around when you see one of the men grab Dani’s ass.

All you can see is red. Before you know it, you’re standing in front of him, yelling at the man in Spanish. It takes Rachel and Kurt to get you away from him and into the alley behind the diner.

“What happened?” Rachel asked you.

Kurt reached forward and took your hand, gently prying open each of your fingers until you drop the salt and pepper caddy that you were probably going to use to beat the man.

You shake your head. It was really all a blur. When you see Dani step out into the alley, all the rage fades away. Her face is unreadable. You start to panic, “I’m so sorry.”

Dani put up one of her hands to silence you. Then she glanced at Rachel and Kurt who took the hint and walked back inside.

You just stand there looking at her. You’ve never freaked out like that in front of her and it makes you nervous. You don’t know how she’s going to react.

As you’re overthinking, she pushes up on her toes and kisses you. It’s not deep or long, but there’s feeling there. When she falls back on her heels, she looked down at her hands. “I, um, no one has ever done that for me before.”

“What do you mean?” that doesn’t even compute with you. You don’t understand.

“It’s just…” Dani stumbles over her words, “No one has ever stood up for me like that before.” Her looks up at you from behind her bangs and you swear you see tears in her eyes.

You immediately wrap your arms around her. She buries her face in your shoulder and you hold her for a moment before stating, “Well you’ve never dated me before.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dantana, first fight but fluffy

"Oh my god," Dani sat on Santana’s bed with one of the scrapbooks that Rachel made, "Is this you in cowboy boots? And a cowboy hat? You’re so cute."

Santana put down the laundry she was folding and looked at what Dani was looking at. “That’s so embarrassing.” She reached for it, but Dani pulled it out of her reach with a sly grin.

"C’mon," Santana crossed her arms, "I haven’t seen any embarrassing pictures of you and Rachel put ones of me in basically every scrapbook in this apartment."

"Well my parents probably burned all the pictures of me ever taken before I turned seventeen," Dani closed the scrapbook and put it on the bed, "But if you have a pencil I could draw you a rough sketch of one time I spilled spaghetti all over myself on a fifth grade field trip to history museum."

Santana dropped her arms, “I’m sorry. I forgot.”

"No worries," Dani stood up. She walked past Santana with a kiss to her cheek and stepped out of the room.

Santana picked up a shirt to keep folding when she heard Dani asked Rachel if there were any pictures around of Santana before high school.

"Oh hell no," Santana ran out of the bedroom and saw Rachel handing Dani a smaller scrapbook. Santana jumped on Dani before she could get it and tackled her onto the couch, sending the couch scratching backwards a few inches.

Dani started laughing as she wrestled Santana for the top position. Dani managed to get her legs around Santana’s waist, flipping her over toward the back of the couch. That motion sent the couch falling backwards. It stunned Santana enough that she didn’t catch Dani getting up, reaching up but missing by a hair.

Rachel watched in amusement as Dani ran past her, grabbing the scrapbook and running back into Santana’s room. Santana got up, hopped over the toppled couch and sprinted back into her bedroom with a playful grin. 

Rachel shook her head and sat down on the upturned couch, trying to remember which scrapbook contained the baby pictures that Santana had stashed in her room.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani meeting Brit for the 1st time

Dani looked up from the table she was wiping down and saw a tall blonde walk in. She had a kitten in her arms. Dani looked around for someone else, but everyone seemed to be on break at the same time.

"You’re not allowed to bring animals in here," Dani stood up and told the woman.

"I know," the blonde frowned, but I found her outside and I think she might be hurt."

Dani looked at the little kitten then looked around again making sure that Gunther wasn’t looking. “Okay, c’mon.” Dani ushered the blonde into the store room. Dani got a small towel and handed it to the blonde. Then she pulled an extra chair into the room so that she could sit down.

"I’m going to go get her some milk," Dani started walking out, but stopped and turned back around, "Kittens drink milk right? That’s not just a movie thing."

The blonde smiled, “My cat drinks milk.” Then looked down at the kitten and added in a mumble, “And smokes cigars.”

Dani snuck into the kitchen and got a bowl of milk, managing to sneak past everyone, or so she thought.

Santana crept through the diner where she saw Dani disappear to. She stepped up to the store room and pressed her ear to the door. She could hear Dani say, “Aww, she’s so cute. Are you going to keep her?”

"I’m only in town to see a friend, I don’t think that I can," another, shockingly familiar voice replied.

Santana pulled open the door and her eyes nearly bugged out, “Brittany.”

"Oh, you’re Brittany?" Dani asked, surprised. She had been told about Brittany, but didn’t know that she was coming to visit. Dani turned to the blonde again, "I’m Dani."

Brittany looked her over, “Oh, you’re Dani.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani, Santana, Rachel, and Quinn on a double date

"I’m sorry that you came over the day after we forgot to pay our electric bill," Rachel apologized to Quinn as the late evening sun was starting to disappear from the windows.

"It’s okay," Quinn smiled and looked around, "I see you decorated some more."

"They don’t ever stop decorating," Santana quipped from the kitchen. 

Quinn smiled when she saw Santana and they shared a hug. 

"Dani’s bringing some candles over," Rachel explained to Quinn, “and the food is on the way.”

"Great," Quinn set her bag down by the couch, "Thanks for letting me come out. I needed this cool down time. Midterms were killer."

“It’s never a problem, Quinn,” Rachel grinned.

The door slid open and Dani shuffled in, her arms full of bags of candles and her guitar on her back. Rachel was the closest and grabbed a bag out of her arms. “Hey Dani.”

“Hi,” Dani grinned. She turned to Quinn, “Hi. I’m Dani.”

“Quinn,” Quinn smiled. She looked over her shoulder at Santana. Santana bashfully smiled back.

Santana made her way to Dani and took as many bags as Dani would let her. “Thanks for bringing these.”

“Never a problem,” Dani kissed Santana’s cheek as she moved to the table to set the bags down.

Quinn looked at Rachel and whispered, “She’s cute.”

“I know,” Rachel conspired, “They’re so adorable together.”

Quinn laughed and put her arm around Rachel, walking with the shorter girl to the table to help with the candles.

As the sun sunk down under the horizon, all the candles were lit and the entire common area of the apartment was lit with a soft glow. The food arrived soon after that and they all sat around the coffee table eating.

Quinn regaled them with tales of the Yale theatre productions and how she loved every single production, no matter how small her part was.

“That’s awesome, Quinn,” Santana said, finishing up her food.

Dani gently lifted Santana’s empty box and took that one and hers to the trash. Quinn caught Santana’s eyes and grinned, “Keep her.”

Santana laughed quietly and watched Dani walk back with the open bottle of wine, “Anyone need a refill?”

“I do,” Rachel offered to glass up to Dani. Dani filled up Rachel’s glass and put the cork back in the top.

Dani sat down on the floor next to Santana and set the wine down. Santana reached over and pulled Dani into her so that Dani could lean back on her, resting her head on Santana’s shoulder. Santana puckered her lips and Dani grinned, kissing her.

Santana reached past Dani and picked up Dani’s guitar. She handed it to her girlfriend who slid farther down the floor until only her head was on Santana’s lap. Dani strummed a quiet little tune as the three McKinley High Alum continued to reminisce.

“So,” Rachel turned to Quinn, “How’s the love life at Yale?”

Quinn shrugged, “I can’t complain. I’ve been on a few dates, but nothing serious. I’m just having a good time.”

“It’s a good thing,” Rachel looked over her glass at Santana, “Santana’s not available to be your plus one.”

“Quinn wishes I was still her plus one,” Santana smirked.

Quinn laughed, “You definitely gave me a night to remember.” She shot a wink at Santana who blushed slightly.

“What do you mean?” Rachel asked suspiciously. She looked at the sly smiles and it clicked in her head, “You two slept together?”

“Just…” Quinn tapped her cheek, “Twice. That one night.”

Dani looked up at Santana. Santana noticed Dani looked at her and looked down. Dani quirked an eyebrow, “Twice?”

“Don’t worry,” Santana pushed back Dani’s hair from her face and kissed her, “It was only twice because Quinn got dehydrated. I can go a lot longer than that.”

“Awesome,” Dani grinned.

“I feel left out,” Rachel polished off another glass of wine.

“Because you haven’t kissed a girl?” Quinn asked, with a curious eyebrow arch.

“Berry has kissed a girl,” Santana corrected.

Quinn took her turn to be surprised, “I never would have guessed.”

“Why not?” Rachel indignantly asked.

Quinn touched Rachel’s shoulder, “I’m not trying to offend you. I was just always sure that you’re sexual tendencies were one hundred percent male.”

Rachel frowned and without warning kissed Quinn. It was a tight lipped kiss at first. Then Rachel melted into it. She pushed her hands up into Quinn’s hair and parted her lips, running her tongue across Quinn’s bottom lip. Quinn’s hands came gently to rest on Rachel’s wrists.

“Holy crap,” Santana breathed.

Dani sat up and looked around, “Um, maybe we should get out of here.”

“Or we could go to my room and I can show you what more than two looks like,” Santana offered seductively.

Dani stood up and helped Santana to her feet. She dropped a kiss on Santana’s lips, “My record is seven.”

Santana watched Dani saunter off into her bedroom. She looked back over at Quinn and Rachel who had found a  laying position to continue making out. Santana started moving toward her bedroom. When she stepped in and closed the door, she saw Dani sitting on the edge of the bed. With a sly smirk, Santana uttered, “Challenge accepted.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cute fluffy dantana one where they are like just being cute and flirty

Santana lingered a little after dropping Dani off at her apartment. It was the fifth time that Santana had stayed with Dani to watch the sunrise. She smiled and started walking off when she heard the sound of tumbling trashcans in the alley next to the building.

Santana heard some familiar cursing coming out of the alley. She heard that cursing when Dani dropped an open pepper shaker that sent a cloud of pepper in the air. 

Santana tentatively stepped into the alley and looked around the corner. She found Dani pushing trashcans upright and then turning around, facing a large van parked in what used to be a loading bay. Dani dug in her pocket and pulled out some keys that she used to unlock the back of the van.

When the door was open, Santana was surprised to see what looked to be an entire living area. There was a small bed to one side and pillow seat with a tiny, short desk on the other side. Clothes were hung between the bed and the front seats of the van. Dani’s guitar was tucked under her bed along with a few small plastic bins.

"Dani?" Santana asked, carefully stepping forward.

Dani froze in place before slowly turning around, “Santana, this is not that it looks like.”

"You live in a van," Santana stated.

Dani turned her hands up, “Okay, so it’s exactly that it looks like.”

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Santana asked, crossing her arms.

Dani put her hands in her pockets, “I don’t know. It’s not really something I talk about. I’m just saving money until I can afford my own place.” She glanced back at the van, “I actually kind of like it. I’m doing it on my own. My own way.”

"How do you get into that building every time I walk you home?" Santana asked, dropping her arms and starting to feel bad.

Dani shrugged, “The building manager lets me keep my van back there and use the toilet and the shower in the basement for a long as carry the trash down to the cans twice a week.” She looked down, “I’m, um, sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Santana shook her head, “It’s not - it’s not really my business.” She could see that Dani was ashamed so she tried to think of a way to make her feel better, “Can I see inside?”

"Really?" Dani asked, suspiciously.

Santana smiled, “Totally, I mean I have the smallest bedroom at the apartment. Maybe I could get some tips?”

Dani let out a wide smile, “Yeah, totally.”

She walked Santana to her van and they both climbed in. Santana was surprised that once the doors were closed it wasn’t as cramped as she thought. 

Dani sat down on the pillow in front of the desk where her laptop was and let Santana sit on the twin sized bed. Dani shrugged, “This is pretty much it.” Dani reached next to the bed and flipped a switch. The christmas lights hung against the roof of the van popped on, creating a soft glow.

Santana looked around. The walls were covered in different colored fabrics, but they all seemed to belong together. She smiled. There was something so uniquely Dani about the whole place. “It’s great.”

"It’s weird and tiny," Dani shrugged, "But it’s home."

"I’m glad you showed me," Santana kicked off her shoes and laid down on Dani’s bed, "I was about to start being offended that you never invited me inside."

Dani got on her knees and rested her arms on the bed next to Santana. She dropped her chin on her crossed arms and smiled, “Well you’re inside now.”

"How many other girls have you rocked the van with?" Santana turned her head toward Dani.

Dani shook her head, “You’re the first one I’ve shown inside.”

Santana moved her head toward Dani and kissed her softly on the lips, “Thank you for showing me.”

"Thanks for understanding," Dani kissed Santana again. She moved onto the mattress next to Santana. She didn’t touch Santana though. She just laid on her side with her head propped up. 

Santana played with the buttons on the front of Dani’s plaid shirt, “I think it’s really cool that you’re doing everything on your own.”

"I’m glad you think so," Dani smirked, "Some of the tenants think that I’m a crazy musician."

"Well who says you’re not that too?" Santana teased.

Dani chuckled. She stopped Santana’s hand from playing with her shirt and laced their fingers together. She pushed their join hands up over Santana’s head and lowered her mouth to Santana’s. She teased Santana’s lips, brushing Santana’s pouty lips with her own. 

"Are we going to rock the van or what?" Santana asked. 

Dani looked up at their joint hands and tilted Santana’s hand so that she could see Santana’s nails. “You cut your nails. How presumptuous.”

"I just wanted to be ready when you finally asked me to come in," Santana grinned wickedly.

Dani paused a breath before her lips crashed again Santana’s. “Wanky.”


	22. Exhausted Little Sexy Elf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dani visiting santana at the mall while santana is working as an elf

Santana looked down at her elf costume. She was glad that Rachel had the foresight to get the costumes dry cleaned before they put them on. Of course it probably cost more to get the outfits cleaned than they were going to make at that crappy job.

She was taking her break from the stinking brats that she was supposed to usher to Santa’s lap. She decided to get a coffee and had to go into the fake gingerbread house where they were keeping their belongings while they were working. She had worked late the last few nights at the diner and Dani had been out of town. She wasn’t really a kid person to begin with and this job was definitely not something she really  _wanted_  to do.

When she stepped out of the gingerbread house with her purse, she heard the click of a camera phone taking a picture. She sighed heavily. She didn’t really want to have to kick someone’s ass for taking a picture of her ass. “Look, I’m going to give you ten seconds to delete that picture and run for your-” She trailed off when she saw who it was. She immediately smiled, “What are you doing here?”

“I got back into town early,” Dani smiled and looked at the picture on her phone. “You’re such a hot elf.”

Santana rolled her eyes and yanked off her hat, “I hate this.” She walked over to the edge of the platform that the Santa set was built on and stood in front of Dani. She wrapped her arms around Dani’s neck and felt a firm hold on her waist.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Dani whispered. She rubbed Santana’s back and added, “But it’ll all be worth it later.”

Santana pulled back enough to rest her forehead on Dani’s and close her eyes, “But it sucks now.”

Dani smiled sweetly and kissed Santana. “You can come over after work. I’ll try to make it better.”

“I’m exhausted,” Santana took a deep breath.

Dani kissed Santana again and took Santana’s hand, “C’mon, let’s go get you some coffee.”

They walked hand in hand to the only coffee shop in the mall. When they stood in line, Santana leaned on Dani and Dani had her arm around Santana’s waist. Santana rested her chin on Dani’s shoulder. Dani paid for Santana’s coffee after Santana sleepily ordered. Then she took Santana to a small table and sat her down. Dani went to get Santana’s coffee and put cream and sugar in it like she’d see Santana drink it hundreds of times.

They sat across the table from each other and Dani held one of Santana’s hands over the table. She would run her fingers up and down Santana’s just watching Santana slowly drink her coffee.

“When’s your next shift at the diner?” Dani asked, pausing to kiss the tops of Santana’s fingers.

Santana groaned, “Like ten hours from now and I still have four hours to go here.”

“Why don’t I take your shift at the diner?” Dani offered.

Santana shook her head, “I need the money.”

“Well I wasn’t going to take the money,” Dani rubbed her fingers over the back of Santana’s hand.

Santana took another drink of her coffee, “I couldn’t ask you to work and then give me the money.”

“You need to slow down, babe,” Dani rested her lips on their joint hands, “You’re going to run yourself into the ground.”

“I’ll let you know after I finish being Santa’s bitch,” Santana rubbed her thumb over Dani’s fingers. “How was Boston?”

“It was fun,” Dani smiled, “The crowd was huge and really into my music. The tips were amazing and I think I may have scored a recording session for me demo.”

“That’s amazing,” Santana smiled, genuinely happy that Dani’s music career may actually be taking off.

“I have to go meet the guy Thursday,” Dani stated. “You don’t think Kurt will be mad that I’m stepping out on Pamela Lansbury?”

Santana shook her head, “I think Pamela Lansbury is dead in the water anyway. Especially when Kurt and Rachel keep putting you and Elliot in the background. And me. I need a spotlight to save this band and the wonder twins are too busy fighting over it.”

“You could definitely save the band,” Dani met Santana’s eyes and knew that Santana was exhausted and probably running on coffee and will power. “How long is your break?”

“I only have,” Santana looked at her phone, “four more minutes.”

“It’s almost over,” Dani assured her, “Then you can come over to my place and have dinner. Then you can get into my bed and go into a coma.”

“That sounds amazing, but-”

“No buts,” Dani stood up. She took Santana’s empty coffee cup and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. “You’re coming over. You’re eating. Then you’re going to sleep.”

Santana smiled because even when Dani was ordering her around, she was adorable. She loved Dani’s dimpled smile when she was trying to be bossy. But it just wasn’t in Dani’s nature. Santana stood up and took Dani’s hand, her fingers slipping between Dani’s. “Thank you.” She gave Dani a quick kiss and leaned on her girlfriend as they walked back to the Santa set.

It looked like Kurt and Rachel were waiting for her near the gingerbread house. Rachel smiled, “Hey Dani, did you just get back in town?”

Dani nodded. “Yeah. Like twenty minutes ago.” She took out her phone and tapped around on it, “I had to come straight here and get pictures of all of you dressed like this.” She snapped a quick picture of Rachel and Kurt before they could stop her.

Rachel put her hands on her hips, “Dani!”

Dani just smiled. “For the unofficial guide to  Pamela Lansbury that will be released after our first album goes platinum.”

Santana chuckled quietly and kissed Dani’s cheek, “I’ll see you in four hours.”

“I’ll have dinner ready,” Dani rubbed Santana’s back, “Rock on with your elf self.”

Santana quirked an eyebrow. Sometimes Dani was a huge dork, but she was a cute dork. She dropped a kiss on Dani’s lips. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Dani just grinned. “Have fun.”

Santana looked down at her elf costume. She was glad that Rachel had the foresight to get the costumes dry cleaned before they put them on. Of course it probably cost more to get the outfits cleaned than they were going to make at that crappy job.

She was taking her break from the stinking brats that she was supposed to usher to Santa’s lap. She decided to get a coffee and had to go into the fake gingerbread house where they were keeping their belongings while they were working. She had worked late the last few nights at the diner and Dani had been out of town. She wasn’t really a kid person to begin with and this job was definitely not something she really  _wanted_  to do.

When she stepped out of the gingerbread house with her purse, she heard the click of a camera phone taking a picture. She sighed heavily. She didn’t really want to have to kick someone’s ass for taking a picture of her ass. “Look, I’m going to give you ten seconds to delete that picture and run for your-” She trailed off when she saw who it was. She immediately smiled, “What are you doing here?”

“I got back into town early,” Dani smiled and looked at the picture on her phone. “You’re such a hot elf.”

Santana rolled her eyes and yanked off her hat, “I hate this.” She walked over to the edge of the platform that the Santa set was built on and stood in front of Dani. She wrapped her arms around Dani’s neck and felt a firm hold on her waist.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Dani whispered. She rubbed Santana’s back and added, “But it’ll all be worth it later.”

Santana pulled back enough to rest her forehead on Dani’s and close her eyes, “But it sucks now.”

Dani smiled sweetly and kissed Santana. “You can come over after work. I’ll try to make it better.”

“I’m exhausted,” Santana took a deep breath.

Dani kissed Santana again and took Santana’s hand, “C’mon, let’s go get you some coffee.”

They walked hand in hand to the only coffee shop in the mall. When they stood in line, Santana leaned on Dani and Dani had her arm around Santana’s waist. Santana rested her chin on Dani’s shoulder. Dani paid for Santana’s coffee after Santana sleepily ordered. Then she took Santana to a small table and sat her down. Dani went to get Santana’s coffee and put cream and sugar in it like she’d see Santana drink it hundreds of times.

They sat across the table from each other and Dani held one of Santana’s hands over the table. She would run her fingers up and down Santana’s just watching Santana slowly drink her coffee.

“When’s your next shift at the diner?” Dani asked, pausing to kiss the tops of Santana’s fingers.

Santana groaned, “Like ten hours from now and I still have four hours to go here.”

“Why don’t I take your shift at the diner?” Dani offered.

Santana shook her head, “I need the money.”

“Well I wasn’t going to take the money,” Dani rubbed her fingers over the back of Santana’s hand.

Santana took another drink of her coffee, “I couldn’t ask you to work and then give me the money.”

“You need to slow down, babe,” Dani rested her lips on their joint hands, “You’re going to run yourself into the ground.”

“I’ll let you know after I finish being Santa’s bitch,” Santana rubbed her thumb over Dani’s fingers. “How was Boston?”

“It was fun,” Dani smiled, “The crowd was huge and really into my music. The tips were amazing and I think I may have scored a recording session for me demo.”

“That’s amazing,” Santana smiled, genuinely happy that Dani’s music career may actually be taking off.

“I have to go meet the guy Thursday,” Dani stated. “You don’t think Kurt will be mad that I’m stepping out on Pamela Lansbury?”

Santana shook her head, “I think Pamela Lansbury is dead in the water anyway. Especially when Kurt and Rachel keep putting you and Elliot in the background. And me. I need a spotlight to save this band and the wonder twins are too busy fighting over it.”

“You could definitely save the band,” Dani met Santana’s eyes and knew that Santana was exhausted and probably running on coffee and will power. “How long is your break?”

“I only have,” Santana looked at her phone, “four more minutes.”

“It’s almost over,” Dani assured her, “Then you can come over to my place and have dinner. Then you can get into my bed and go into a coma.”

“That sounds amazing, but-”

“No buts,” Dani stood up. She took Santana’s empty coffee cup and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. “You’re coming over. You’re eating. Then you’re going to sleep.”

Santana smiled because even when Dani was ordering her around, she was adorable. She loved Dani’s dimpled smile when she was trying to be bossy. But it just wasn’t in Dani’s nature. Santana stood up and took Dani’s hand, her fingers slipping between Dani’s. “Thank you.” She gave Dani a quick kiss and leaned on her girlfriend as they walked back to the Santa set.

It looked like Kurt and Rachel were waiting for her near the gingerbread house. Rachel smiled, “Hey Dani, did you just get back in town?”

Dani nodded. “Yeah. Like twenty minutes ago.” She took out her phone and tapped around on it, “I had to come straight here and get pictures of all of you dressed like this.” She snapped a quick picture of Rachel and Kurt before they could stop her.

Rachel put her hands on her hips, “Dani!”

Dani just smiled. “For the unofficial guide to  Pamela Lansbury that will be released after our first album goes platinum.”

Santana chuckled quietly and kissed Dani’s cheek, “I’ll see you in four hours.”

“I’ll have dinner ready,” Dani rubbed Santana’s back, “Rock on with your elf self.”

Santana quirked an eyebrow. Sometimes Dani was a huge dork, but she was a cute dork. She dropped a kiss on Dani’s lips. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Dani just grinned. “Have fun.”


	23. The Best Medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani gets a really bad case of food poisoning.

“Go on without me,” Dani mumbled into her pillow.

Santana sat up and looked on the other side of the bed. She ran her hand up and down Dani’s back, under her shirt. “What, babe?”

“I’m dying. Go on without me,” Dani mumbled again and closed her eyes.

Santana smiled and kissed Dani’s cheek, “Are you going to puke again?”

“Maybe,” Dani breathed in through her nose.

Santana gathered up Dani’s newly blue hair and put it in a ponytail with the hair tie on her wrist. “Maybe eating pad thai out of a food truck that actually looked like a kidnapper van is a bad idea.”

“But the guy was so nice,” Dani whined. She felt like if she moved too much, she would vomit again and she had done that so much she was sure that there was nothing left in her body to vomit.

Santana kissed the back of Dani’s neck and rolled out of the other side of the bed. She walked to the sink and wet the washrag that she had been using all night to try to sooth Dani. After she rung it out, she walked back to the bed and sat next to Dani. She lifted Dani’s shirt and started running the cool rag up and down Dani’s back.

“I love you,” Santana kissed the curve of Dani’s neck.

Dani rolled onto her back and looked at Santana. “Even after I threw up in front of you like fifty times last night.”

“It was only three times,” Santana grinned, “And yes, I still love you.”

Dani smiled vulnerably, “Thank you.”

Santana softly kissed Dani’s lips. “You don’t have to thank me.” She ran the rag over Dani’s forehead and looked into her eyes, “Do you think you could eat something?”

Dani thought about it for a moment before jumping out of bed and tearing off to the bathroom. Santana quickly followed and found Dani bent over the toilet, once again puking into the toilet.

“I’m sorry,” Santana moved over to Dani and ran the cloth up and down Dani’s back. “I shouldn’t have brought up food.”

Dani wiped her mouth with some toilet paper and then heaved herself to her feet before flushing the toilet. “It wasn’t your fault.” She rinsed out her mouth. “At least I’m not really throwing up anything anymore.” She started brushing her teeth when Santana turned on the shower.

After Dani has brushed, flossed, and used mouthwash multiple times, Santana pulled her shirt off over her head. Dani sighed, “You don’t have to take care of me.”

Santana pulled Dani’s hair out of the ponytail it was in. “I know.” She ran her fingers through the blue hair and smiled. “I like to.”

After Dani was stripped, Santana helped her into the shower. She threw Dani’s clothes into the washing machine before joining Dani in the shower. Dani was just standing under the spray, her head down. Santana moved to stand behind her and kissed the back of her neck, “It should be over soon.”

“I love you too,” Dani lifted her head and felt the water softly beat on her face.

Santana took her time washing Dani’s hair and then her body before they both got out. Dani just laid down on the bed while Santana put clothes on. The towel was wrapped haphazardly around Dani’s lower half as she lay face down on the bed.

Santana moved to the bed and started massaging Dani’s back. She’d drop kisses randomly over the smooth skin. She would take time to memories every single one of Dani’s tattoos knowing that each one meant something to her girlfriend so they were all important to know.

Dani was started to nod off so she thought she should let Santana know something before she fell asleep. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Santana stopped all movements and looked over the terribly ill, half naked, tattooed and blue haired girl on the bed. A wide smile took over her face. She knew that Dani had definitely fallen asleep, but Santana felt that she had something to say too. “I am definitely in love with you.”


	24. Chapter 24

Santana loved many things about Dani. She loved her smile and the way she got unabashedly excited about things. She loved the way Dani always knew when to kiss her to make her feel better. She also loved that, although Dani could dance well in the club, Dani was one of the most ungraceful people she’d ever met.

The first time she remembered noticing this was Elliot’s audition for Pamela Lansbury. Dani was walking across the stage toward her guitar when she tripped over a cord on the ground. Dani went sliding a few inches, face first over the stage. Dani burst out laughing and then hopped to her feet. She bowed to the other three people in the room and continues walking to her guitar.

Santana was worried about Dani for a second before Dani started laughing. There was no blushing or embarrassment. Dani just laughed. It perplexed Santana.

Then before their first gig as a band in Dani’s apartment, Santana was sitting on the bed, wondering if anyone was actually going to show up to the damn thing when she heard a crash come from Dani’s closet. Dani just burst out laughing. It didn’t stop Santana from running to the closet to find Dani laying on the ground two jackets in her hand. She just smiled up at Santana and presented them. “Which one?” Santana, still confused, pointed to the gold one.

A few days later, Santana was thinking about how easily Dani’s fingers moved across the neck of the guitar or all over her body, yet she couldn’t seem to stay on her feet all day without falling. She was thinking about all these things to keep herself from thinking about the stressors in her life. The real, adult things that scared the living shit out of her because she’d never had to deal with bills and a boss and trying to start a career that seemed to keep skidding backwards every time it inched a little forward.

She was looking at the puppet in her lap when the front door opened. Dani called, “Knock knock.”

“Hey,” Santana looked up as Dani walked in, “Thanks for coming.”

“Never a problem,” Dani made her way to the couch and sat down next to Santana, “What the hell is that?”

“It’s a creepy puppet that Kurt’s fiancé sent me,” Santana looked the puppet over. Then she put the puppet to the side and leaned toward Dani until she wasn’t supporting any of her own weight anymore.

Dani wrapped her arms around Santana. She kissed Santana’s forehead before resting her cheek on it. “What’s wrong?”

“Just a bad day,” Santana swallowed and tried to bury herself farther in Dani.

Dani understood and just sat there holding her. It was five minutes later that Santana said she needed some water. Dani told her to stay seated. She would get it. However, two steps from the couch, Dani tripped on the corner of the rug and went tumbling down. She rolled onto her back on the concrete floor, awash in laughter.

Santana got up from the couch and moved to her girlfriend. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?” Dani asked, laying on the back on the ground, “Fall all the time? I think it’s just my constant fight with gravity.”

“Just laugh?” Santana asked softly. Her question had more to do with her bad day and less to do with Dani’s propensity for falling on her ass.

Dani held her arms open and Santana laid down next to Dani, resting her head on Dani’s chest. Dani stroked Santana’s hair, “I don’t take myself too seriously. People already judge me enough without me being my harshest critic.” Dani kissed the top of Santana’s head. “I fall down – a lot – but it’s not something to be embarrassed about. People make mistakes and they mess up. Everyone falls down and everyone spills things. I’m just exceptional at it.”

Santana smiled and tilted her head up to look at Dani, “How is it that you’re so much more mature than me and you’re younger than me?”

“I’ve fallen down a lot, so I know exactly how to get myself back up and on my feet,” Dani explained softly. “You’re just now learning how to fall. It may take a little while to figure out how to stand up again.”

It was a few weeks later that Pamela Lansbury was actually playing an actual show in a great venue. They had even talked Kurt into letting them play some songs that weren’t by Madonna. During the last song of their set, disaster struck.

Kurt had been walking across the stage, trying to be sexy and his foot clipped Rachel’s microphone stand. Rachel had been walking behind him and when she ran into his back, they both went tumbling onto the stage. Elliot had been twirling and tripped over the heap of them. Santana in her effort to stay away from the pileup caught her heel on the stage as she was quickly backing up and fell square on her ass. Luckily for the group, Kurt had finally recognized that they needed Dani to sing some solos and Dani was in the middle of the powerhouse note that was captivating the entire audience.

Santana was initially mortified that she had fallen down in front of all those people, but as she watched Dani rock the song and play her guitar like a pro, Santana put her hands on the ground next to her and she stood up. Dani had a guitar riff to play, but she caught Santana’s eyes as her girlfriend straightened out her dress. She smiled a secret smile that only the two of them would understand.

Santana finished the song out by herself with the help of Dani’s guitar playing while Kurt, Rachel, and Elliot fumbled around, completely humiliated. Santana felt something warm inside of her. Maybe it was a change or a realization. Maybe it was nothing at all, but as soon as the song was over, Santana laughed. She moved across the stage to Dani and hugged her. She didn’t care who was watching or if they were judging her. She knew that if she got knocked down, no matter what, she could always find her way back onto her feet. 


	25. Marks of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prompt involving Demi [Dani]'s scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: self-harm [past]

You noticed them before. The first time you were just moving your hand down her arm to take her hand as you walked her home from work. After your fingers grazed the bumps, you figured it was just the hem of her sleeve and didn’t plan to think of it again. Then night you were having sex and grabbed her wrists to pin her to the bed.  Your palms made contact with what you were sure were raised lines in her skin. But it was dark so you couldn’t see. Dani rolled your onto your back away and erased most of the thoughts in your head for the next few hours.

Finally, you confirmed that there was actually something there when you were watching a movie at her apartment. She had her arm on the back of the couch and you reached up to pull it down around you. When you grabbed her wrist, your thumb went to affectionately stroke her skin like you seem to always do when you touch her. They were like tiny parallel speed bumps under your thumb. You didn’t say anything. You just pulled her arm around you and leaned into her. However, you thought about them for the rest of the movie.

You’re not stupid. You don’t live under a rock. You know that there are different forms of self-harm. You also know that Dani hasn’t been doing it recently because you’d notice scabs and cuts. There aren’t any of those. Just the scars. You know that there is a dark past behind her bright eyes. You just didn’t know exactly what that entailed.

You’re curious, but you don’t want to ask. This isn’t something you’ve encountered really. Not that you know of. You’re just glad that Dani doesn’t feel the need to do it anymore.

The next time she’s sitting next to you, she puts her arm around you again. It’s a Pamela Lansbury meeting that you wish you could leave because Kurt and Rachel are fighting over wardrobe things. Dani’s fingers caressing your shoulder bring you out of your thoughts on sneaking out.

She smiled at you and gives you a kiss. It’s a quick peck, but it’s an attempt to keep you from getting pissed off. It works though. You move your hand up to her hand that’s on your shoulder and slide your fingers between hers. Your thumb automatically swipes affectionately at the inside of her wrist and you feel them again. This is the first time you’ve felt Dani tense when you touch her. You’re sure it’s because you’re touching her scars. She doesn’t talk about her past and you’re sure it’s because it’s painful.

You want to reassure her that you’re not going to freak out. You feel the need to assure her. So you continue running your thumb across her scars, up her wrist, and the length of her thumb before moving it back again. You look at her and you see an immense amount of vulnerability.

You’ve never been good with feelings, but you need her to know that you know her past was her past and she doesn’t have to explain. So you tilt your head up and gently brush your lips against hers. You kiss her slowly and carefully, wishing you could draw out all the pain that she’s ever gone though and bury it somewhere deep inside of yourself. You feel her free hand move to the side of your neck. Her thumb strokes your jaw as she breaks your lips apart. She doesn’t move far away, pressing her forehead to yours.

Her eyes are closed and her voice is low when she whispers, “Thank you.”

You understand what’s she’s saying. She’s thanking you for letting her know that you’re not going to freak out and you’re not going to ask her why. You’re just going to accept her how she is now. You’re going to adore who she is now.

You smile and kiss her again, trying to let her know that there was no need to thank you. You feel lucky to have her in your life, scars and all.


End file.
